


Honor Bound

by words_reign_here



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, M/M, Nobility, Prince Derek, Royal Family Hale, Royal Guard Stiles, Secrets, general Kate Argent warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 12:22:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 38,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15096626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/words_reign_here/pseuds/words_reign_here
Summary: A potential royal family scandal must be averted and that has somehow settled on Stiles shoulders.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [everhaunting](https://archiveofourown.org/users/everhaunting/gifts).



> I know my summary is vague but this is a birthday present and I want her to go in as blind as possible because that's the kind of human I am and I regret nothing. I wrote this over a course of five fevered days and I hope she loves it because she deserves it.

Stiles shoved his feet into his favorite boots and grabbed his bag that was waiting for him on his bed. He took one last look around and said goodbye, silently, to the room he had slept in almost every night of his life so far, unless he was at Scott's. He took a deep breath and turned his back and headed for the front room.

For all his status as the town constable, Sir Stilinski's house wasn't terribly impressive but it had been the only home that Stiles had known. He loved it, he would miss it, but he knew that the world would not wait for him to fall out of love with his life and his family and his part of the city.

"I will pay you," Scott said as soon as he caught sight of Stiles in the hall, "To not take this job. To not even try to get this job."

"There isn't a need to rush out into the world for the first job that comes available," John added. His brow was creased with worry and he clutched a mug. Stiles hoped that it was merely coffee in there.

"My family is in need of another scribe. The job is yours, if you'd only say the word," Lady Lydia added.

"Name the job. Any job. Invent a job, an apprenticeship, anything that you would like to do and I will see that my father has it done. We are second only to the royal family, Stiles, it can be done," Jackson said and there was a note of pleading in his voice.

Stiles remained silent but turned to Lady Melissa, the favored healer of the royal family and Scott's mother. Her brow was creased much like his father's and he couldn't help but see the motherly concern written all over her face. Since his own mother had passed she had been the one to be that female presence in his life and in turn, his father had been there for Scott.

"I will take you as apprentice," Melissa offered and everyone turned to her, surprised. "I will take you as apprentice and teach you everything that you want to learn about healing and surgery and anything else within my realm of knowledge should you not do this."

To be the apprentice of Melissa McCall was the height of honor, something only the best and the brightest could do, a job that people had fought for, and had schemed for, for years. She did not offer this chance lightly. Stiles had seen her vigorously review people for the job for months before she decided. It would give Stiles and his family a place of honor.

"While I appreciate what you have to offer me, all of you, I must politely decline. I have waited for this opportunity all my life and should I fail, then I will come back and consider what I need to do. I love you all, though. I want you to know that you are everything to me and when this is all said and done, I will have my place, just like any of you," Stiles said.

"Your place is with us," Scott murmured.

"Beside us," Jackson said.

"And so I will be," Stiles said and straightened up. "Will you be there?"

"Our presence has been requested by the royal family," Lydia said and glanced over at Jackson. Normally she jumped at the chance to spend time with the royal family, but she did not look terribly overjoyed this day.

"It is my duty," Melissa said. "Scott will be assisting me as Master Deaton has allowed."

"It is my duty as well," John said.

"Then I will see you all there," Stiles said.

"Before you go," Scott said and sighed. He looked to Lydia and she bowed her head.

"We knew that if you were truly to do this, then you would need something more than a threadbare tunic and your favorite boots," she said.

"I requested my tailor to make this for you," Jackson said and pulled a bag forward and left it at Stiles's feet. "It is yours, free and clear. A gift from the three of us."

Stiles raised an eyebrow and knelt, opened the bag and peered inside.

He promptly fell back on his ass and looked up at his friends, the dearest of people in his life.

"It is too much," Stiles muttered and shook his head.

"If it keeps you alive, I would double it," Scott said.

Inside was sparring gear, fine and light, durable enough to fend off dull blade attacks, to take the brunt of hard blows. It was full body armor and would have cost as much as the Constable's house.

"Go, if you insist on going," Melissa said. "We will be there to watch you."

Stiles stood, grabbed his bag and hugged his father fiercely.

"When I come home, will I finally have some mead?" He whispered.

"As much as you want. As long as you come home," John agreed.

"Yes, sir."

*~*

King Joseph and Queen Talia led the way for the family to the arena. Already the other nobles were seated, waiting only for the ruling family. Prince Derek followed his parents, and Princess Laura and Princess Cora behind him.

Their guards flanked them, making the way through the crowds towards the arena where they would spend the rest of their day and, if Derek's parents had their way, possibly most of tomorrow.

"Your crown is crooked," Lady Erica whispered. She swaggered through the crowd and they parted for her, giving her wider berth than either Boyd or Isaac.

Derek fixed his crown.

"How many?" Derek asked.

"I think your mother was be happy if one passed the tests, but if there are more, there shall be more," Boyd said.

"Will they pass the tests?" Derek asked. His personal guards were only the three that he spoke to. His sisters had double his number. He refused more and up until last week, his parents had humored him.

Last week, spies had snuck into the castle and rendered Boyd and Isaac unconscious and it was only Erica that had been able to sound the alarm and hold the rest back from kidnapping or killing Derek. She had killed more men that night than Derek, who had been tied to a post, had seen. She was wild and uncontrollable, only soothed when Boyd had stood, however unsteadily.

"It is hard to say. Princess Laura designed the tests for them to fail. Only the smartest will be able to pass," Isaac murmured.

"Not the strongest?" Derek prompted.

"Strength did not help Isaac or me," Boyd reminded him.

Derek fell silent at that. To pass the tests, certainly the person would need strength but it made sense that Laura would require them to be clever as well.

As they went to their seats, everyone stood until the royal family was seated. The king and queen were behind and above Laura, Cora, and Derek. Their guards were below them and when the king nodded, a man that Derek had simply come to know as Coach despite the fact that he did not actually participate in any events, turned to a group of people around him.

Derek recognized a few of them but two he did not and they stuck out to him. Not because they were familiar, although the boy was, vaguely, but because they were so clearly and painfully young.

"Did you not put an age limit on these tests?" Derek asked Laura quietly.

"Same as any other job. It is open to any citizen of Beacon as long as they are nineteen or older," Laura said and squinted at the contestants. "Although those two do seem quite young."

The other contestants were larger and seemed to already be crowding the younger two. The boy and a girl exchanged a knowing glance before turning back to Coach to listen to the rest of the instructions. They were alike in that they were both wearing well worn clothes and their casual stances made them seem like they were uninterested in their surroundings.

"I have money on the girl. The young one, short hair," Cora whispered.

"I as well," Laura said.

Derek said nothing and the physical tests began.

*~*

It felt like hours before the physical tests were finally done. Stiles felt like he had been put through the most arduous test of his life. His legs were on fire from all the running and his vision swam and he thought he might faint or puke. Both were possible, he considered.

"Stand up straight," the girl next to him whispered. "Nobility approaches."

Stiles straightened up as the others, those that remained, did the same.

When he saw the pale blue of Lydia's skirts and the navy of Jackson's coat, he almost slumped over again. He saw that Jackson was carrying a bag over his coat.

"Leave us," he snarled at a guard and to the others gathered around.

"Sire-" the guard began.

Lydia whirled around but before she could open her mouth, the other contestants were already filing out of the room. The girl beside Stiles, the one who had stayed at his side all morning, the one who had encouraged him all day as he had done the same for her, began to move away too but Stiles gripped her arm.

"She stays," Stiles bargained.

Jackson rolled his eyes.

"Close the door," Lydia ordered.

When the door clicked shut behind them, Stiles slipped to the ground and the girl went with him.

"I think my legs are going to fall off," Stiles muttered.

"I want to die," the girl agreed.

"I'm Stiles," he said as he slumped against her shoulder.

"Malia," she said.

"Nice to meet you," Stiles said.

"You too," she said.

"Drink," Lydia said and shoved a flask in Stiles's face. She gave another to Malia and they both drank, far too quickly and almost spat it out.

"What is it?" Stiles gasped and tried to shove it back on Jackson.

"Melissa gave it to us. She said it tastes awful but you'll feel better," Lydia said and urged the flask back to his lips.

Jackson and Lydia fed them, gave them food and helped them as much as they could before the guard was politely knocking on the door again to let them know that they were being called back to the arena.

"It should be done by today. Finish your opponents and you will go home," Lydia said.

"What word from the royal family?" Stiles asked.

"They wager that Malia will win a place at the Crown Prince's side but you have surprised everyone," Jackson said as Stiles began to pull his gear on.

"Even you?" Stiles teased.

"Especially me. I thought you were nothing but a gentle papa's boy who relied on a sharp wit and Scott's brute strength to get by," Jackson said.

"You will need brute strength now," Lydia said.

"We will see," Stiles said and even Malia looked worried.

*~*

The arena was not kind to Stiles but he knew that was how it would be. He knew that he was fast, faster than most of his opponents and his youth would be his asset for the running, jumping, and riding portion of the tests.

But youth was his enemy when it came to fighting and all the skills that one learned on the battlefield. Thanks to the royal family, there had been no great war or even a small conflict along the borders. The guard that trained under Prince Derek was often sent overseas to battle with other country's armies merely for the experience. Stiles knew, just as everyone watching knew, that his lack of experience could get him hurt or even killed.

"Do you know how this will go?" Stiles asked as Malia adjusted her own gear over her chest.

"They could call us out and do battle one on one. Or they could have a free for all, last one standing takes the position by the Prince's side," Malia said.

Stiles nodded.

"If it's a free for all, would you mind a small alliance?" Malia ventured.

Stiles followed her eyes to where Kali and Ennis were surrounded by more friends than themselves. His eyes drifted up to the nobility to where his father was seated by Jackson and Lydia.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea," Stiles said.

"Gather round!" Coach shouted and whistled loudly.

Stiles and Malia approached from the other part of the arena as the other competitors approached from the other side. Coach eyed both groups and nodded to himself, as though he had made a decision.

"Alright, you lot," Coach said and glanced around, with a strange look in his eyes. "The royal family has asked that we get this going so instead of a bunch of rounds of fighting, you lot will be doing a free for all. No eye gouging, no crotch shots..." His eyes went distant for a moment before he brought himself up short and nodded. "That's about it. May you have the royal favor."

"Well," Stiles said as both he and Malia took several large steps back and away from the other group. Suddenly they seemed larger and wider than they had a moment before.

"Have you fought before?" Malia asked. She swung her sword easily in her hands.

"Sparred. You?"

"Not humans."

The answer brought him up short and he dropped his hands and turned to her, looking for answers. She looked ready to answer but the gong sounded and Malia and Stiles found themselves on the wrong end of a very large group.

*~*

"Who is she?" Lydia asked Scott.

"No idea. An orphan, perhaps, looking for a job."

"I pray that she is a competent fighter," Jackson whispered.

"I pray that he can crawl from the ring," John said and covered his eyes as the group of men and women, all battle hardened and eager for blood, bore down on Malia and Stiles.

Lydia watched, clung to Jackson and Scott's hands, and prayed that Stiles would somehow get through this. Malia and Stiles glanced at one another and she spun him around so that they were back to back, her with her sword and him with a staff that he had brought from his home that no one had seen before this day, and the battle began.

For the first time during the day, Prince Hale leaned forward, interested, and Lydia had to fight her own tongue not to curse him.

Malia was fierce with her sword, using it more as club since it had been dulled for sparring, and knocking people left and right out of her way.

Stiles was not quite as generous. He aimed for the face and the throat of his opponents as they charged him. He blocked them effortlessly and sent them flying for the ground. Lydia could feel the astonishment in those around her as well as herself. Relief flooded her as well.

Of course her dear, sweet, smart friend wouldn't come here without being prepared. He would never in a million lifetimes risk his life when he could be prepared.

Why had she worried at all?

Finally, it was only Ennis and Kali facing down Stiles and Malia. Stiles was breathing hard, he was dusty, but his staff was still in his hands and he looked ready to finish what he had started.

"Is he still alive?" John asked.

"Sir, he is standing," Scott said.

John dropped his hands and when he stared down at the arena in front of him, he looked like he had seen a ghost. "Should I be grateful?"

"Shush, now. He stands yet," Melissa said.

As though they were sent a signal, Kali and Ennis went after Malia and Stiles.

Malia, as though possessed, screamed and ran for Kali. She was exhausted and swung wildly and Kali blocked her easily, one after the other, until Malia fell back and paced for a moment before once more diving back into the fight, swinging with her sword, followed swiftly by one of her fists and then Kali was bleeding and no longer laughing. Malia seemed to say something and this time, Kali screamed, and seemed to lose control. It was only a moment later that Malia stood over Kali's still body.

Ennis was not as strategic as his partner and went in swinging at Stiles. He was also exhausted and one of the punches landed on his side and Jackson and Scott held John back. Stiles stood and there was a cold light in his eyes as he straightened up and watched Ennis for a split second before he went after him, his staff swinging and it was one hard hit to his hit and Lydia knew it was all over for the larger man.

But Stiles did not stop until Ennis was on his knees, begging for mercy.

Stiles slammed the staff against the other man's temple, showing him none.

As Ennis fell to the dirt, the crowd erupted in screams and cheers. They had their victors, clear and easy.

"Boyd, Erica, Issac, go." Derek said softly.

Although this was not part of the plan, the other three did not hesitate. They leapt over the low fence that separated the audience from the fighters and headed straight for Malia and Stiles.

Their intent was clear. They were not here to congratulate the two, or bring them to the royal family for congratulations. These three were the final challenge.

The Crown Prince's personal guard, trained, battle hardened, and rested, now descended on both Malia and Stiles.

John moaned and hid his face again.

Jackson clutched Lydia's skirts. Scott did the same on the other side.

Lydia brought her hands up to her mouth, unable to hide her own horror.

Isaac pulled his sword out, lazy and arrogant. Boyd was slower in his movement but it seemed far more threatening. Erica jerked hers out of her scabbard and the crowd was so silent, Lydia could swear she heard the sound of her sword sliding against the leather.

Stiles stepped away from Ennis and Malia grabbed Kali's sword from her limp hand. They tried to head towards each other but the three guards separated them effortlessly. Erica faced Stiles down and Isaac and Boyd stood in front of Malia. They didn't move in on her and Lydia understood that now was the time for one on one fights.

Erica tested him first, darting in and out, changing the pace by lazily watching him before darting in once more. Then, having found a weakness in his fighting style, she darted in again, aiming for his lower left side with her sword and Stiles's scream of outrage let everyone know that she had drawn blood. Then came a flurry of blows and his face was covered in blood and he could barely block her blows now, and the sound of his staff snapping was heard throughout the arena.

No one moved.

None but the Prince who moved forward to the low fence and Lydia heard a hysterical voice in the back of her head whisper, _His crown is crooked. He hates wearing it._

"Come on, you can do it," Prince Hale murmured. "You know what to do."

As though Stiles heard his Prince, he straightened and the cold fire was back in his eyes and he went after Erica with a swift series of strikes that she blocked easily and threw him off. He studied her again and she smirked at him.

Blew him a kiss.

None of it moved Stiles.

They ran for each other at the same time and clashed in the center of the ring. Boyd and Isaac were keeping Malia back as she attempted to charge at Erica's back.

Their movements were too quick for Lydia to follow and it resembled a dance more than anything.

Then it was done. The dust settled and Erica was on her knees, facing the royal family, her own blade to her throat and there was blood below her nose and on her lips. She grinned maniacally at Derek and he raised a hand.

Stiles stepped away and Erica stood. She turned and Stiles offered her her blade back but instead she embraced him. She whispered something to him and his eyes went wide but he bowed his head and nodded.

Lydia was too relieved to truly follow Malia's fight, only to note that she was _strong_ and fast and just a little bit cruel. She fought both Isaac and Boyd at the same time and though Lydia wanted to protest the unfairness, Malia came out beating them both.

"I'm impressed," Derek said to Princess Laura.

"As well you should be," Laura replied.

Jackson and Scott helped John to his feet as Stiles and Malia were led from the ring.

*~*

The first year in the Prince's guard was probably the most brutal that Stiles had experienced in his life. Contrary to what he thought, he did not return to his father's house. Instead, the Prince sent a small group to the house to collect all of his things and brought them to his rooms in the castle.

The _castle_.

Stiles could have never have dreamed that he would have ended up there. He thought, at best, he would end up in some barracks with a bunch of low ranking soldiers. But his room was down the hall from the Prince himself and it was far more than he deserved.

Prince Derek had a room at the far end of his own wing. His room faced the hallway and the guards rooms lined the hall. Closest to him was Erica, then Boyd opposite Erica. Next to Erica was Isaac. Across from Isaac was Malia and across from her and next to Boyd was Stiles.

He didn't have time to luxuriate in the opulence of his rooms. The fireplace, the warm blankets, the amazing bed, the beautiful view, none of it compared to what he was feeling. Within a week, his feet were bleeding from blisters and Melissa was in his room to tend to him. She advised him to keep off of them to allow them to heal but he insisted on working.

Stiles learned that Melissa was a frequent visitor to their wing and that Prince Derek demanded much more from his guard than either Princess Laura or Princess Cora. But they were treated with far more reverence than the other guards so there was give and take in that area of their lives.

Lives such as they were, Stiles thought. Malia came from an orphanage, Isaac wanted no contact with his father, Erica's family had disowned her and Boyd had grown up with Derek and was practically a member of the royal family.

Stiles was the only one who had a family back home that he wished to visit, his friends and family that he missed like an ache in his chest. The brief visits from Melissa and the occasional lunch with his father was not nearly enough. It had been months since he had seen Jackson, Lydia, and Scott.

It was during lunch one day that Isaac kicked Stiles under the table and Stiles kicked him back but with very little energy.

"What's wrong with you?" Erica asked and poked him with a fork where a spectacular bruise was forming, courtesy of Boyd.

Stiles shook his head.

Erica, Isaac, and Boyd turned to Malia who shrugged.

They all stood when Derek entered their dining room and he waved them to sit. That was one thing that Stiles did appreciate about Derek. Unless they were in the public eye, he rarely had them follow the strict rules and traditions of the court. As they often took their meals in their own dining rooms, meals were far more relaxed than they would be in the great hall.

"It is the Constable's birthday this coming weekend-" Derek announced as a servant began to serve him. "And our presence is required."

There it was. The annual ball held in honor of his father, on his birthday. Stiles knew that he hated it and looked forward to going home to have steak and eggs with his only son, to laugh about the nobility and to hear all the gossip that Lydia and Jackson had passed on to Stiles.

"As such, I will need you four to be on your best behavior and pick up any slack since Stiles will not be in attendance," Derek finished.

"What? Why aren't you going?" Malia whined and kicked him under the table.

"Stop kicking each other, you are all such a bunch of children," Derek snapped. "Stiles should spend the weekend with his father, should he not? Especially since in the past months you all have barely had a moment to breathe."

"Wait, the _Constable_?" Erica said.

"Is your father?" Isaac finished.

"Why didn't you say something? We just thought that you and Malia came from the same tattered orphanage," Boyd said and the concern was written on his face.

"I didn't want you to think that I got this because I am his son," Stiles said.

"It would have given you an edge, there is no doubt," Derek nodded and chewed thoughtfully. "I wondered why Lady Lydia, Sir Jackson, the Constable, and the McCalls were all so invested in your fight until Laura told me of your relation."

"The tests were designed in such a way that only the best could have passed anyway," Erica said with a look.

"So Stiles will be gone for the weekend. He will be attending to his father and still representing the Prince's Guard-" Derek gave Stiles a look with a raised eyebrow, "And he will be uniform. He has the weekend to himself. You four need to figure out how to compensate for the loss and yes, Erica, you can have the next weekend off."

Erica raised her fist in victory and as they finished their meal, Stiles could feel the relief flood him. An entire weekend, all to himself, for his father's birthday.

*~*

"Stiles!" Derek snapped as they strode through the city's marketplace.

Stiles exchanged a look with Malia but traded spots with Boyd so that he was now at the Prince's favored side.

"What did you get your father for his birthday?" Derek asked.

Stiles blinked and looked around. "I had a bed hand carved for him with a new mattress delivered yesterday."

Derek nodded and frowned. "What should I get him?" He asked.

"Your Highness, your favor-" Stiles started.

"Do not shovel horse shit, Stiles, you are in my guard, not in the stables," Derek said. "Pick something for your father that he would like, he could use, something he would like, and save me a fight with my mother."

Derek sounded tired and when Stiles looked over at him, he saw dark circles under his eyes.

"Yes, sire." Stiles said and led their small group down an alley and stopped in front of a blacksmith. The man glared at him when he recognized Stiles but stood up straight when Derek stepped in front of his shop. Derek looked from the man and then to Stiles.

Stiles led Derek to the storefront and gestured to a large smoker. "Dad's dream. He hunts and his smoker is not as good as it used to be. He gives out the extra meat to families whose fathers and husbands are no longer with them or unable to hunt themselves."

Derek nodded and turned to the man who had followed the other guards. "Deliver it to the Constable's residence. Send the price to the castle and I will see that it is paid."

"Sire, for you-" The man started.

"Nonsense. You are a man of skill and that skill deserves compensation. Do as I ask, and you will be rewarded." Derek said and though his words were kind, the scowl on his face did not move.

The man bowed and said it would be done immediately and he called for his sons, for his horses, and then Derek was sweeping them away. He didn't order Boyd to replace Stiles's spot so he stayed where he was. They roamed the streets silently even though Stiles was dying to ask Derek what was on his mind.

He was tough and fair but he could also be harsh. But he had a terrible habit of not giving out relevant information to his guards until the last possible second.

"My mother approaches me about marriage," Derek finally said when they approached the edge of the city.

Stiles nodded. Of course. Logical, really. A Crown Prince without a wife and a possible heir was ridiculous. There was already talk about how much longer Derek thought he could remain single. Stiles saw how the women of the court flocked to him and how they giggled at the few sentences he said.

Stiles also saw through the mask of formality and knew he was supremely uncomfortable with all the attention the women lavished on him.

"Two families have come up recently. The Yukimura family, royalty in their own land." Derek went on and Stiles nodded and Derek stopped. Constable Stilinski had been part of their guard when they visited and Stiles had shown their daughter, Kira, around their small city and the pair had gotten into no small amount of trouble when left alone. They were a good, honorable, family; handsome, strong, and fair. Not to mention that Princess Kira was beautiful and smart. She would make a good pair with Derek, Stiles thought to himself.

Stiles stopped as Derek did and Derek spun around to face him. He kept his eyes on Stiles's face as though his opinion mattered or that Stiles had information that Derek did not. "The second family is the Argent family. Their highest ranking lady is Lady Katherine."

Stiles tried to hide the grimace on his face before it could be fully formed but it was too late. The hatred that Stiles has for Lady Katherine Argent was infamous among his closest friends but beyond that, he spoke of her to no one, under any circumstances. Court politics had gotten more than one person killed.

Old habits died hard, though, and her name was enough to set him on edge. Already, the thought of guarding Derek night and day from her was running through his mind, how he could keep the Princesses away from her as well, if it was possible to plant seeds of doubt in Derek's mind or if he would rebel against Stiles's opinion.

"Stiles," Derek snapped and Stiles looked back to his Prince, the man he was honor bound to. Tall, broad shouldered, with a cutting, dry wit of his own, the Prince hardly seemed like the man that needed to be protected.

Within days of knowing him though, Stiles had figured out otherwise. Derek was too quick to trust a pretty face and a soft smile. He was soft around children and would be lost in his books for days were it not for Danny, who kept him on schedule.

"Your Highness?" Stiles asked softly.

"Why do you not- why did you make that face at the mention of Lady Katherine?" Derek asked.

 _What would Lydia do? What would Jackson say?_ Stiles desperately asked himself.

"Lady Katherine is a woman of high born nobility, Your Highness, and I believe it is improper for me to speak ill-"

"Shut it and tell me what you think," Derek snarled.

Stiles risked a look behind him and Boyd nodded at him. Stiles sighed and let his shoulders slump. His father had warned him about the politics of being this involved with nobility.

"My father has had numerous complaints against the Lady. She treats servants as though they are things-" Stiles said.

"That's not entirely unusual," Isaac interrupted.

Stiles grimaced and looked at Derek's boots. "More servants have disappeared under her care than she can justify. Their castle backs up to the sea."

Derek was quiet for a long moment, his eyes distant. "I see." He said softly. "Anything else?"

"She was married when she was much younger. A duke. He also disappeared. She claimed he left to seek a fortune over the seas. His parents claimed that he was terrified of the open water and would have preferred death over sailing for an extended period of time. It isn't just men. Ladies in waiting have gone missing. One was found with her tongue cut out. Lady Katherine explained to my father that there were brigands near her palace."

Derek nodded. "The Yukimura family?" He asked.

"Lady Kira is a kind and beautiful young princess. She is very naive and a genuinely sweet soul. If you were to marry her, my only advice to you would be to prepare yourself for a life of laughter and teaching her things of the wide world," Stiles said. He smiled when he thought of Kira, of his time visiting with her.

Derek nodded and they turned and left for the castle once again.

*~*

Derek released Stiles from duty early that Friday afternoon and Stiles packed his things and as he was leaving his rooms, he found his four friends frowning at him.

"It's just for the weekend," he promised.

"It's strange. None of us have left for any reason," Boyd said.

"Well, none of you have had the honor and privilege of having an old man like mine," Stiles said jokingly and immediately regretted when he saw the looks on their faces. "Come visit, if you can. He will adopt all of you on sight and you will then have the honor and privilege."

"Really." Derek's flat voice came from the end of the hall and the five of them straightened up. He didn't look any more rested than he had on their walk through the city and Stiles felt the concern grow in his chest.

"Of course, Your Highness. You are invited whenever you would like to visit," Stiles said.

"Hm. Have a good weekend, Stilinski," Derek said and turned for his rooms before Stiles could reply.

Stiles turned, askance, to the others but not even Boyd could give him an answer. He hugged them all goodbye, not even being an honored guard in the Prince's service could stop him from hugging those that he cared about, and headed down the stairs.

As he did, he paused to let Princess Laura descend the stairs before him.

"Sir Stilinski," she said and gave him a bright smile. "Will you walk me to the hall before you take your leave?"

"Of course, Your Grace," Stiles said. One of her guards took his bag so he could walk with her without it burdening him further. Even though he was far younger and with less experience than most of them, they still deferred to him. Most of these guards had been passed from Derek to Laura when they could not keep up with the Prince.

"We will miss you, even though it will only be for a few days," Laura confided in him and linked her arm through his. The sudden show of affection surprised Stiles. The royal family was not known for their shows of affection.

"I will be back before any of you realize I am gone," Stiles replied.

"See that you are," she said and they walked in silence for a few moments before she cleared her throat and turned to the guards trailing them. "Will you give us a moment?" She asked politely.

The head guard, Brett, looked hesitant but Laura smiled at him. "I am sure that I will be perfectly fine with a guard from the Prince's contingent and within your eyesight."

Brett sighed but fell back.

"He's new. And he worries," Laura explained.

"Derek does not look well," Stiles blurted out.

Laura nodded. "What I want to tell you, you must keep to yourself. It is a matter of security to the royal family and the nation. Do you understand, Sir Stilinski? I do not say this lightly, but Erica owes me a favor and you know how she loves her knives and how rarely she gets to use them. I imagine if given the chance, she would take full advantage of all the time available to her to use them."

Stiles blanched and nodded. Erica enjoyed her knives a bit too much and he had seen her quickly and expertly skin a rabbit while barely watching her own hands.

"Yes, Your Grace," Stiles murmured. He glanced around them. They were nearing the great hall and the entrance to the room was wide and the ceiling was tall. There was no one around them and the hall was suspiciously empty. Though the guards could still see them, they were far enough from them that they couldn't hear what Laura had to say.

Laura sighed and stepped away from him and folded her hands in front of her. "Derek does not wish to marry."

Stiles nodded. A blind man could see that.

"A woman."

_Oh._

"Oh," Stiles said.

"Without an heir, it is impossible for him to do as he wishes but he understands his duty and knows where his loyalty lies. He has resigned himself to the fact that he will be in a marriage that he does not want and his best hope lies with marrying a woman that could understand him and still wish to be friends with him and provide him with an heir," Laura explained. She studied his face and must have seen the understanding dawn on him.

"My parents know but they will not allow him to abdicate," Laura said. "They sympathize but will do nothing about it. The kingdom needs an heir, Stiles."

It had been the first time she used his first name in their conversation.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Boyd. Perhaps Isaac and Erica. No one else," Laura said.

Stiles nodded.

"There is hope for him, though. Something has happened that-" Laura's eyes were wide and Stiles was startled to see that she was on the verge of tears. Automatically he reached for his handkerchief and handed it to her. She put it to her mouth and bowed her head.

"Princess?" He asked and held his hand out. She clasped it and he was surprised by the strength there.

"This is where I need your help. You are the cleverest of them all, close enough to Derek, and he listens to you. You have this weekend to think on it, to figure out a way to approach Derek with the offer and then a way to make it happen. I am relying on you only because I myself cannot figure out a way to do it. Will you help me?"

"I am honor bound to my country and my royal family, Princess. Ask it and I will do everything in my power that I can to help you." Stiles swore.

Laura took a deep breath and began to explain.

*~*

Brett could not hear what Princess Laura and Sir Stilinski were talking about but at one point, the Princess began to weep and ever the perfunctory gentleman, Stilinski handed her his handkerchief. Stilinski was speaking intently to the Princess, even as she gathered herself and clutched his hand. After a moment, Laura spoke, Brett saw the color flee Stilinski's face and Laura dropped his hand and Stilinski backed against a wall and slid down it until he was sitting on the ground and looked up at the Princess.

Stilinski was only twenty summers past but being part of the Prince's guard had aged him, matured him. But as he looked up at Laura, he looked younger than his twenty summers, Brett noted. He started towards the pair but Laura held out a hand and glared at Brett until he backed away once again. Stilinski's eyes never left her face and Brett was shook to his core to see that Stilinski was also on the verge of tears.

Their conversation carried on longer than any of the other guards expected and finally, Stilinski stood and kissed her hands. He nodded and the maturity returned, but there was a hardness in his eyes as well, a determination that Brett hadn't seen before. He escorted Laura back to them and cleared his throat as he stood before them. As part of the Prince's guard, he outranked all of them except Laura.

"Keep this meeting to yourselves. Should I hear word that you have spoken about this, even among yourselves, I will see to it that you are out of job in this castle, city, and country. That is only if you can survive me telling Erica of your betrayal to the royal family," Stiles said.

Every single guard went pale at the thought and they all murmured their agreement. Stilinski took his bag from the guard that had carried it for him and stared at the floor for a moment before he nodded to himself.

"Very well," Stiles said and looked at Laura. "I will do as you asked, Princess."

"Thank you, sire."


	2. Chapter 2

When Stiles arrived at his house, he had to take a moment to let out a long and slow breath. He had practically run home after speaking to Laura and now he stood at the door to his childhood home, unable to raise his hand to knock on the door.

A second later it was pulled open and his father stared at him for a second before he slowly said, "Son?"

"Dad," Stiles said and his father held his arms out. Stiles let himself fall into his father and he wanted to weep with relief and he was embarrassed that his eyes were already wet. He was trembling and his father rubbed his back like he used to when Stiles was a boy and had woken up from a nightmare.

"Son, what is it?" John asked and cradled Stiles's head against his chest. What Laura had asked of him was possible, but not easily accomplished and it would require more than what Stiles had in front of him. The party would be the following day and after that, he was required to return to the castle before sundown on Sunday.

"I need you. All of you. I need help," Stiles said and even though his voice was muffled against his father's shirt, he could feel his father's arms tighten around him.

"Of course, son. Whatever you need."

"I need all of them. I need them all here."

*~*

It wasn't until well after dark that Jackson, Lydia, Scott, and Melissa arrived at the Constable's house. They had planned it that way and even kept the light low in the kitchen as they all gathered round.

"Such intrigue," Jackson remarked.

"I knew the court would have some effect on you but this is not what I was expecting," Lydia said as she seated herself.

"Well, if it were not for the last part of my duty that has been added onto my current duties, we would all be asleep in our beds, dreaming of my father's birthday party," Stiles said.

"I hope it isn't too complicated and that you won't need that much of my help," Scott said and tried to hide a yawn.

Stiles laughed. "Neither one of your wishes will be coming true, my friend."

Everyone fell silent and Stiles looked down at his hands. In the past year, he had learned more about loyalty to country and the ruling family than he thought he would ever learn and he had come to love them and wanted more than anything to serve them as they served the entire country. He knew that if any of the royal family were asked to lay down their lives for their country, they would do it, without hesitation.

"The king and queen wish that the Crown Prince choose a wife. He has been given two years to make the decision or the decision will be made for him. Currently, he has two choices. Princess Kira from the Yukimura family-"

"Lovely," Jackson said and nodded.

"Educated, refined," Lydia said and nodded.

"Beautiful," Scott said and sounded as though he were in a dream.

"-or Lady Katherine from the Argent family."

"No," John, Melissa, and Lydia all said at once.

Stiles nodded, "I have informed the Prince of what I know so far. Not that she has been found guilty of any crimes but he is as aware as the rest of us how nobility often goes unpunished. He seems to have taken my word so far."

"I fail to see the problem. The choice is obvious," Lydia said.

"Derek does not wish to marry," Stiles said.

There were blank looks around the table and non-commital shrugs. The life of royalty was not their own, this was a well known fact.

"A woman," Stiles finished.

"Oh," Scott said softly.

Lydia blinked at him. Jackson looked unsurprised. Melissa and John looked regretful.

"Well," Lydia said after a moment. "That hasn't been a problem in the past. Royalty has found a way around it. Queen Helena was married to a Queen Celine and they had a brood of children. King Stephan was married to King Jerin and they also found a way-"

"Adoption is not acceptable. They demand that the heir be of royal blood," Stiles said softly. "The king and queen will not let him abdicate either."

"That's not fair. It should be his choice," Scott said mournfully.

Stiles sighed and put his head in his hands. The Hale family would be the death of him at this rate.

"What is the rest of the story, son?" Melissa asked.

"As I was leaving the castle this afternoon, Princess Laura stopped me. She asked if we could have a word in a private," Stiles said.

The sheer amount of responsibility laying on his shoulders was suffocating. Stiles wondered if he could abdicate his own spot and hide underneath his father's bed like he did when he was young and had nightmares.

"Go on," Jackson urged.

"If any of this leaves this room, even a whisper, I will be tortured and killed," Stiles said. He looked up at everyone. "Not even a word."

"Of course not," Lydia said and nodded. "You have our word."

"Princess Laura is pregnant," Stiles said.

"When is the wedding?" Scott asked. He loved weddings; the singing, the dancing, the food. Scott was in his element.

"There will be no wedding," Stiles said.

Scott tilted his head to the side, as though Stiles were explaining an impossible math problem to him. He looked like the puppies they played with as children.

"He was cruel to her, in the end. A duke from a far off kingdom and no, I can't tell you his name. Princess Laura- she can't-"

"No one can know," Lydia whispered, her eyes wide.

"We are the only ones in the kingdom. Us and Princess Cora," Stiles said.

"The scandal will tear the court apart," Jackson said.

"She wishes to leave here for the duration of her pregnancy. She wants to give the baby to Derek and have Derek come back with the baby," Stiles finished. "That way, Derek has the heir without the loveless marriage and she can watch her child grow up and still be part of the child's life. And Derek will be free to marry who he wishes; man or woman."

"I-" Melissa said.

"Wait-" John said and held up a hand.

"How-" Jackson sputtered.

"All of that she is leaving up to me. Her and Cora are focused mainly on keeping the pregnancy secret. She asked me if I would help her convince Derek and figure the rest out," Stiles said.

"No offense, son, but why did she ask you?" John said and scrubbed at his face.

"Because she said I was clever and that Derek listens to me," Stiles said. He wanted to tear his hair out in frustration. "But I am only as clever as the people I surround myself with and you are the smartest people I know."

There was silence around the table. Stiles felt like he was on the verge of tears.

"I need your help," he whispered.

"Anything," John said. "We will help you with it all."

*~*

Stiles rolled out of bed and fell to the floor the next morning to someone opening his door. He sat there in his small clothes, covered only by a blanket, blinking up at Cora stupidly.

She looked out of place in his plain childhood room, her gown of sea foam silk and taffeta a hard contrast against the sparseness of his room.

"Derek was right," she said with a sigh. "You will need help."

"With what? What time is it? Why are you here? Where is my father?" Stiles asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Your Prince sent me and my ladies to help you get ready for the ball tonight. Several of my ladies are with your father and Laura is in the kitchen. She has several options for what he can wear tonight and they are discussing the matter. I have brought your formal clothes since Malia found that you forgot them."

"Yes, I was distracted by-" he stopped himself and looked up at Cora.

She nodded.

"I imagine you were distracted by finally getting time off and getting to see your father again and were undoubtedly in a hurry to get home to realize that you had left your uniform at the castle. That's what Laura told the Prince, anyway."

"Her Highness was correct," Stiles said and stood, wrapping the blanket around him in an attempt to cover up.

"Her Highness also informed me that you had visitors last night and that they were here very late and did not leave until several hours ago," Cora went on. "I imagine that this also distracted you from the fact that you had left your uniform."

"Yes," Stiles said and tried in vain to look around for some clothes. Had his father gotten up early and taken his clothes to the wash woman? They were gone and the only thing he had was his blanket. "The uniform seemed of little importance as compared to getting home and seeing my family and friends."

"And were you happy?" Cora asked, her eyes locked on him. "Were you happy to see them? They were here quite late by all accounts and it seems like you had much to discuss."

"Was I followed?" Stiles asked, his brain still catching up with everything.

"Of course you were followed," Cora snorted.

"I am very happy. It was very nice catching up with my friends and family and they had nothing but good things to tell me. A few stories were left unfinished but yes, I believe Her Highness will be most pleased with all the things that we caught up on," Stiles said, finally realizing what Cora was really asking him.

"And you are sure that your tales from court will not be shared with others?" Cora asked.

"They reassured me, on pain of my own death, that not a word would be said," Stiles said.

Cora seemed to loosen at those words and stepped out of the room and returned a second later with his uniform and a change of clothes. "Your father said the washing woman sent this back this morning."

Her eyes held nothing but laughter but Stiles glared as he took the clothes from her hands.

"Breakfast is waiting, good sir."

*~*

Stiles washed his face and brushed his teeth before he descended the stairs and found himself drowning in skirts and silks and a tailor who was measuring his father while Lydia, Laura, and Melissa watched critically.

"Help me," his father whispered.

"How do you think I got my uniform?" Stiles asked and shook his head. Melissa passed him a cup of coffee.

"I hear your visit was most productive, Sir Stilinski," Laura remarked.

"Very. My friends had the best things to tell me. I have missed much but they filled me in on everything. Even a few things I was not aware of," Stiles said and looked to Lydia.

"Yes, I think all the things we had to tell Stiles was quite helpful. I have informed him on the comings and goings of the nobility that I am aware of and he had questions. Quite a few. He was quite thorough on his knowledge," Lydia said. She looked like she had gotten a full night's rest and hadn't been up with the rest of them, plotting and planning.

"I was able to provide some details as well. I believe any information or questions the Prince has will be put to rest once Stiles reports back to him," Melissa said.

"All is well?" Laura asked.

"Better than well, Your Grace. I believe that what I have to take to the Prince will be more than satisfactory. I believe that he will be quite pleased with my report, as will you and Princess Cora," Stiles said.

"Though some questions remain," John said. "And I wonder if the report should be given here, away from the prying ears and eyes of the court."

The ladies that watched and attended them seemed to realize that something was being discussed beyond their knowledge and Stiles saw curiosity bloom across their faces. Though there was no realization of what was taking place.

"I did invite His Highness and the other guards to visit, if they would like. Their lives are strangely devoid of parental figures and I know that my father and Melissa don't have enough children to parent," Stiles said.

"I beg to differ," John said and reached for the cup in Stiles's hands. He relinquished it and Lydia passed him another.

"As do I, though I do not have quite the job that John does," Melissa said.

"I'm offended. I will tell His Highness. You are out of a job," Stiles said.

"I think Derek would sooner fire me than Melissa," Laura said.

"True enough," Cora said.

"It is settled. Sunday afternoon, shall it be?" Laura asked.

"Please never visit me again, I don't think my nerves can take any more," John said to Stiles.

*~*

That night, Stiles and his father rode into the palace gates in a carriage far too plush for their budget and Stiles could only figure that Derek had sent it.

"Do you think it will work?" John asked, amid an uncharacteristic silence on their ride.

"Oh my god, no. I don't there is a chance of it working. And for all the moving parts to come together exactly right? I don't have a doubt in my mind that Lydia and Melissa will be able to pull their part together, but a lot depends on what Jackson can pull off. And if Deaton will buckle under the pressure of both McCalls. And if we can find a place-" Stiles shut his mouth when he felt the rising panic in his chest and throat.

"Then why do it? Why not let fate decide what to do with the royal family?" John asked.

Stiles was silent for a minute and a dozen reasons came to mind. Because Derek didn't deserve an unhappy marriage. Because Laura deserved a chance at happiness and not to be ostracized. Because they were good people, through and through. Because Stiles had found himself a family that accepted him, protected him, taught him, kept him.

"It is more than a duty. It is honor. I am honor bound to the Hales and all their flaws," Stiles said.

John sat back and nodded. "Then it will work. It will work if this is what you put that mind of yours to."

Stiles felt the panic recede. If his father believed it would work, of course it would. It would happen that way because John Stilinski held the world in the palm of his hand and would never lead Stiles astray.

The carriage pulled to a stop and the driver opened the door for them. He nodded at them and left, though Stiles had no doubt he would be there at the end of the night to pick them up.

"This place never stops being overwhelming," John muttered as they stepped up to the stairs to enter the ballroom. The announcer nodded at them and as Stiles handed him the card, he rolled his eyes. He gestured for the ushers to open the door and as he did, the ballroom below them fell quiet.

"The guest of honor, Constable John Stilinski and his son, of the Crown Prince's guard, Stiles Stilinski!" He called out and there were applause and Stiles slapped his father on the back and grinned at him.

"I hate these things," John whispered.

"Smile dad. Royalty is watching," Stiles whispered as the king and queen and the rest of their family approached.

"John, so glad you could make it," Talia said and squeezed his hands.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," John said and kissed her hand.

"Well we know how much you love being in the spotlight and receiving gifts and talking about your accomplishments," Joseph added and laughed.

Talia hugged Stiles and then the king and queen swept John away.

Stiles was left with Cora, Laura, and Derek, staring him down, all with impossibly colored eyes, all of them weighing and measuring him, it seemed.

"Your Highnesses," Stiles said and bowed.

"Have you enjoyed your weekend?" Derek asked stiffly.

Behind him, Isaac, Erica, Malia, and Boyd all violently shook their heads _no_.

"It has been a bit of a bore, if truth be told, Your Highness," Stiles said.

"Really?" Derek said and raised an eyebrow.

Stiles felt like he was stepping into a minefield.

"I heard that Lady Lydia was quite late at your house only last night," Derek said.

"Did you have me followed?"

"Of course," Derek said easily.

Stiles frowned at Derek and Derek remained impassive.

"If that is a question that needs answering, then yes. Lady Lydia was at my house quite late when I got home," Stiles said.

Erica threw her hands up in frustration and Isaac buried his face in his hands.

"As was Sir McCall, Sir Whittemore, Lady McCall, and my father," Stiles added.

Malia looked like she wanted to cry with relief.

"I heard," Derek said. "Was there a great deal of catching up to be done?"

"There was. A lot can happen in a year," Stiles said and glanced to Cora and Laura.

They both shook their head no.

Derek was not aware of what was happening and he had only accidentally stumbled upon the same language that Cora had used.

"Why do you look to my sisters?" Derek asked.

"Because they look lovely and I was hoping to tell them so after my interrogation was done," Stiles said.

Derek flushed at that. "I am unused to my guards leaving me," he said.

"It will happen rarely, Your Highness, I assure you," Stiles said.

Derek paused as though he wanted to say something more but instead he nodded and turned away.

"Please come back soon," Malia whispered before she ran after Derek.

"Sir Stilinski, if you would be so kind?" Laura asked and curtsied.

Stiles bowed in return and took Laura by the waist as a song began. Cora was swept away by Jackson who grinned at her and she laughed in return.

"Did you-" she whispered.

"Yes. I have something. It-" Stiles sighed and though he remained straight backed and he thought that he could handle what he had in mind, he was so exhausted, he felt he might cry. "It is something. I had to bring others in on the plan, though."

Laura looked up at him, wide eyed. "Stiles-" she hissed.

"They are all here. All the ones I told are all here and they all know. Has anyone treated you differently or unkindly tonight? Perhaps too kindly?" He asked.

Laura paused and she studied the buttons on his jacket. "No, I suppose not."

"If you have this much trust in me, trust that I know these people and that they would sooner die than let anything happen to me. And I told them, in no uncertain terms, that I would be put to death should word get out."

Laura bowed her head.

"What I can do for you, Your Grace, will require a great deal of skill and timing and hope. And I pray that His Highness does not kill this duke you mention," Stiles whispered.

"You and I both," she said.

"All will be well, in the end. I promise you that," he said. They danced for a moment longer and then Stiles sighed. "Do you know how long?" He asked.

"How long what?" Laura asked.

"Until the obvious deductions can be made," Stiles said.

She gave him a flat look. "I must admit that I have not found myself in this situation, so no. I do not know."

Stiles nodded. It was March. Melissa gave him a maximum time estimate of three months until Laura began to show. At the very most. "I believe the sooner we get this done, the better."

"I agree." Laura said.

"Will you and your siblings be at my father's house tomorrow?" Stiles asked.

"Wild horses could not pull us away," Laura said.

The night wore on and Stiles found himself having danced with nearly everybody, including Danny and Jackson and Scott. Despite the worries that pressed against him, he found himself enjoying the night. It was late and he was leaning against a wall, speaking with Lydia when he saw Derek stand and wave the others back as they went to follow him.

"His Highness is very beautiful," Lydia murmured over the rim of her cup.

"Yes, I am very well aware," Stiles said.

"You sound irritated," she noted.

"You try working for someone who looks like that, that pretends he is allergic to shirts more often than not and see what it does to your mood," he replied.

Lydia laughed and Stiles grinned. He loved the sound of her laughter.

"Oh dear, is he headed this way?" Lydia asked.

It seemed like he was. In a green jacket that was cut long in the back but stopped short of his waist and high waisted, fitted black trousers and shiny black boots, with a sash that proclaimed all his various war medals, he was headed straight for Stiles and Lydia.

"Oh dear," Lydia muttered. She took a big drink of the cup in her hand.

Lydia was the picture of elegance in a dress of silk and pearls, that was white in the bodice but faded into a warm pink at the bottom of her skirts. Her hair was piled high and there was color in her cheeks. Any man that did not take the chance to ask her to dance was a fool, in Stiles's unbiased opinion.

Stiles supposed he didn't look terrible either. His jacket was the same style as Derek though he lacked the sash and the war medals and his jacket was a deep navy. His trousers were a creamy white, which Stiles was horrified to see the first time. It was an invitation to disaster. He had the same shiny black boots that ended right below his knee, just like Derek's.

"Lady," Derek said and bowed.

Lydia curtsied in return.

Stiles grinned at her and he felt the two glasses of champagne that he had consumed earlier. He felt them a bit too much, he thought, if the warmth flooding his chest was anything to go by as Derek met his eyes.

"Your Highness, if you don't mind, might I steal Lady Lydia?" Scott said suddenly, startling Stiles.

"Of course, sir McCall," Derek said though his eyes did not leave Stiles.

Lydia and Scott left and Derek stood in front of Stiles, still staring at him.

"Is there something wrong, Your Highness?" Stiles asked.

"No, nothing. I just wished to have a word," Derek said.

"As you wish," Stiles said.

Derek opened his mouth but nothing came out. Stiles was more than aware of Derek's social awkwardness and found it endearing in someone who had a stature as high as his.

"Are you having a good time, Your Highness?" Stiles finally prompted.

Derek let out a breath and nodded. "I am. I know your father doesn't like this done in his honor but I have to admit, this is one party that I do look forward to."

"Why?" Stiles asked and sipped from his glass.

"I believe your father and all his services are far more worthy a cause than most celebrations we have here," Derek confessed.

Stiles couldn't help but feel warmed at the remark.

"I saw you dancing with your friends," Derek said softly and his eyes betrayed his age. He was not much older than Stiles, a very young man still. "You looked like you and Lady Lydia were having fun."

"It is easy to have fun with Lydia when you know how."

"Are you two close?"

"We are."

"Will you wed?"

Stiles snorted the champagne up his nose. Derek watched him with concerned eyes though he made no move to help. Surely there was a rule against the Prince helping one of his own guard. Or Derek just liked to watch him flounder.

"No more than you would wed Laura, Your Highness," Stiles said when he had caught his breath. He pointed at Scott and Lydia now sweeping across the dance floor. "When Lydia has you in her hands, she will make you look better just by being close to you. I accuse her of witchcraft, but it simply is who she is."

Derek watched Scott and Lydia for a moment and indeed, it seemed like Scott looked more elegant, more refined, happier, and even stronger with Lydia dancing with him.

Seeing the opportunity to plant an idea, Stiles went on, "Lydia is capable of far more than her station requires. She is smarter than any other individual I have met and can learn anything that has been put in front of her."

"You have a very high opinion of the Lady," Derek said.

"I do, as I do with most of my friends. Jackson is powerful enough that he could do anything that he puts his mind to but his loyalty is unwavering, rare to find someone with power like that. Scott, though he can be a bit dense, is loyal and a fierce fighter, smarter than he is given credit for." Stiles smiled at his fellow guards who were watching the two of them. "And I could go on for hours about my new friends."

"Could you?" Derek asked.

"Do you know what Erica said to me when she lost to my in the sparring ring, that very first time?" Stiles asked.

Derek shook his head.

"She said, ' _You fight well, brother.'"_ Stiles smiled. "My mother died when I was young and growing up, I longed for a bigger family with brothers and sisters. I have found them, thanks to you." He raised his glass at the four of them and they did the same thing.

"Would you like to dance?" Derek asked. Blurted, more like. He seemed to be picking up the habit from Stiles and when Stiles raised his eyes to Derek's, they were wide, like he couldn't believe what he had just said but he wasn't going to take it back either.

"Yes, Your Highness," Stiles said and set his glass down.

Derek, used to being in charge, led Stiles out on the dance floor and let Derek lead him around the floor. His hand at the small of Stiles's back and in his hand were warm and Stiles had a fleeting, drunken, thought of what it would be like to curl into that warmth on a cold winter's evening.

"I will be lucky to survive the night," Stiles whispered to Derek.

"Why?" Derek whispered back.

"Because there are men and women that are willing to kill to be in my spot."

"They will have to go through all of us first. And I think Erica brought her knives in case she got bored."

*~*

Stiles barely slept. If he had to be pressed, he would say that night he got an hour's worth of rest, no more. He made a note to ask Lydia what her secret was to looking refreshed every morning despite getting very little sleep.

It was one of many thoughts he had during that long night and he prayed to his mother that he could pull this off and prayed that no one died at Derek's hand the following day. He was already at the table when his father came in, looking like he had slept no more than Stiles.

"Are you ready?" John asked.

"No," Stiles said. "Do you think the banker would still take me as an apprentice?"

"Possible but I don't think you'll need it. The Prince- he- I just think that Princess Laura made the right decision in coming to you first," John squeezed his shoulder.

Stiles nodded but there was none of the familiar comfort in his father's words. Scott and Lady McCall were the first to arrive, then Lydia and Jackson. They were all relatively quiet until there was a knock at the door. Everyone looked to Stiles and he stood up, slowly. He looked behind himself at his friends and family and then turned and opened the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Derek looked like he had slept for the first time in weeks and Stiles couldn't help but want to laugh at the irony.

"Your Highness," Stiles said and although he looked like he was sickly, his smile was genuine.

Behind him was Laura and with her Cora. Neither one looked like they had slept well either. And behind them was Liam, head of Cora's guard, with his contingent and Brett with his own. Cora and Laura glanced behind them and it seemed like both Brett and Liam had their orders as they whispered to their men and women. They scattered.

Laura must have gotten his message about setting up a perimeter.

"Please, come in," Stiles said and stepped aside.

The royal family entered his home and Boyd, Isaac, Malia, and Erica followed them.

"What is going on?" Erica hissed as she passed him by.

Stiles chose to remain silent.

"Constable," Derek said to John and they greeted each other with a very manly handshake. Derek kissed Melissa's cheek and shook hands with everyone else. Jackson and Lydia looked like they were in the most comfortable setting of their lives while Scott looked like he might faint.

"Please, let's go to the study. There is more room there," John said.

The guards gathered by the windows, directly behind Derek, Laura and Cora while everyone else sat down. Stiles, being last into the room, had no place to sit. Lydia was serving coffee to everyone with such an elegance it made Stiles want to cry with relief.

"I feel as though are visit here has more to do with just visiting your childhood home, Stiles. Especially since my sisters have insisted that they accompany me," Derek said.

Stiles nodded and he knew his throat was dry. Lydia pressed a cup into his hand. Stiles drank and thought about all the things he had to say, about the speech that Jackson had coached him on and how he would ease Derek into their plan and how they would begin to let Laura and Cora in on what they had finalized only that morning.

Instead he said, "Princess Laura is pregnant."

In all of his life, Stiles would never feel such a vacuum of sound. No one moved and then Stiles saw, very slowly, the devastation on Derek's face, swiftly followed by rage.

Having been in the Prince's company for so long, Stiles knew what to prepare for. He could have stepped aside, he could have defended himself, but he only managed to shove his cup at Scott and then push his friend away.

A second later, Derek was breathing in his face, hands around his neck and shoulder, his boots clearing the ground. Dots danced in his line of vision. He heard the glass in the mirror behind him break.

"Was that your plan this entire time? Get in my good graces and then impregnate my sister?" He hissed.

As though dreaming, Stiles saw something very silver and very sharp under Derek's chin and his instincts, having been honed over the past year, came roaring to the surface as the tip of the blade pressed Derek's head back. He wanted to push Derek away and fight the person with the blade and wondered where his fellow guards were.

Then he dragged his eyes from Derek and saw Laura pressing the blade to Derek's neck and Cora defending her back.

The guards, much like Stiles imagined he would be, looked torn. They obviously couldn't do any harm to Cora and she had a _sword_. Even disarming her would cause her injury. And their other Princess had a blade to the Crown Prince's neck.

And, of course, Laura was pregnant with another member of the royal family.

"Let. Him. Go." She snarled.

Finger by finger, Derek let Stiles drop to his knees and he heaved in a breath. When he looked up, he saw that both Cora and Laura were in front of him, defending him against what was surely Derek's wrath.

"He will go to the dungeons right now. His execution will be planned in the morning," He ordered Boyd.

"If you touch him, Sir Boyd, I will kill you," Laura said calmly.

"Princess, you aren't helping our case," Stiles gasped and coughed. He knew Derek was strong but even that was unexpected. He could feel the bright bruises on his neck and knew he would be sporting the shape of Derek's hand for some days to come.

"Stiles is not the father. He is the only one I could trust that would be level headed enough to get me through this crisis," Laura snapped and turned her blade on Isaac who approached Stiles from the side.

Isaac held his hands up and put his own sword down on a nearby desk. "I just want to check on him."

Isaac knelt in front of Stiles and tilted his head up. Cora stood behind him, her sword at his back. He seemed unbothered and looked up at Scott. "Cold compress. Ice, if you have it."

Scott disappeared.

Melissa appeared by Isaac's side and Stiles felt her cool fingers on his neck. "His voice may be worse for wear for the next few days, but I don't think anything is broken." Isaac murmured.

"My back is bleeding," Stiles whispered.

Isaac helped him stand and Melissa undressed him swiftly. Scott came back in and turned to leave only to return a moment later with dressings. They were prepared for this much, at least.

"Is that why you brought me all the way out here? For Stiles to deliver this news?" Derek snapped.

"If it were that easy, I would have told you weeks ago," Laura snarled back.

"Your Grace," Lydia murmured and stepped between Derek and Laura's blade. "Might we speak to His Highness?"

"If his royal ass would stop trying to kill the only person who could give him a single bit of happiness, I would be more than happy to let you speak," Laura said, her eyes on Derek's face.

"Who?" Derek asked. “Who was the one-”

"Why does it matter?" Laura asked.

"It matters if he will be part of the royal family!" Derek roared.

"He will not be. That is where Stiles comes in," Laura said.

"You will pretend as though Stiles is the father? You agreed to this?" Derek said and spun on Stiles.

"No. If it were that easy, I would have consulted you earlier," Stiles said and his voice was hoarse.

Everyone in the room, save Derek, winced.

Melissa finished with his back and helped him put his tunic back on. "Your Highness, we need you to sit and we need you to stop asking questions until you understand everything. We need you to do this for your own good." She said gently. She left Stiles's side and went to Derek. Gently she guided him back to the small couch and sat next to him. "It will be all right if you would give Stiles a moment to explain."

Derek, though he looked like he was still furious, sat. Cora dropped her sword. Laura put her own down on the desk and Lydia, Jackson, and John looked like they were ready to collapse.

Stiles explained how Laura came to him and how, over the course of an evening with his friends and family, a plan, a stupid, stupid plan formed.

"We want to take you and both the Princesses away. Lydia, Scott, and Jackson will accompany us. Along with your guards. It will be an extended vacation before your inevitable marriage and coronation," Stiles said.

"When?" Derek asked.

"Within the next six weeks," Stiles said and looked to Laura. "The sooner, the better."

"Where?" Derek asked.

"I have a summer palace, on an island. It is sparsely populated," Jackson said and showed Derek the map where it was located. "We thought of any of your palaces, but they are all too near to a dense population and the risk of Laura being seen is too great."

"It will be a gift from the Whittemores to you before your marriage. There will be hunting, drinking, all the things that you like doing," Lydia said. "Your sisters, already preparing to miss your presence in their lives-"

Cora snorted.

"-will request to go with you. Since the island is so lonely and easily defensible, only your guard will be needed. Scott will be sent with you to learn of the wildlife there and to take care of any of the horses, cattle, and other such you might need. Jackson will go because it is his island. I will go at his request." Lydia finished.

"We will need a doctor," Derek said, shaking his head.

Lydia and Melissa exchanged a glance and Melissa took Derek's hand in hers. She patted it and smiled when he looked at her. "I will teach Lydia everything I know and she will be in charge of Laura and the baby's health."

Derek blinked at her. "Why can't you come?"

"I can't leave the king and queen's side. Not while they rule still," Melissa explained.

Derek was silent for a long moment. "Why? Why are we going to all this trouble?"

"For you," Laura whispered.

Derek shook his head.

"If I have this baby, then I will be stricken from court and mother and father will be forced to send me away. It will break their hearts. This baby, an innocent life, will be forced to grow up in poverty, because I will be forced to give him or her up. I will not survive that, Derek. I will kill myself, I promise you," Laura whispered.

For the first time since this whole plan had been put into motion, Laura looked like she might breakdown.

Derek raised his eyes to her.

"When we are on the island, Lady Lydia will begin a correspondence with one of her friends here and speak of a budding romance between you and an island girl. She will speak of how she has never seen the Prince so in love. The letters will tell of a beautiful romance and how the girl discovered she is pregnant. The letters will be intercepted, of course. We will be forced to stay on the island longer than planned to avoid the scandal of you bringing back a pregnant commoner to the court and after Laura has given birth, the baby will be yours to raise. Lydia's letters will tell of the very sad tale of how the lovely island girl died giving birth to your royal heir," Stiles said.

"And when you come back, there will not be a single royal family that will want to marry you and raise your child for you. You will be free. You can marry who you want, if they would have you, you ass," Laura said.

"You would- What?" Derek said and looked from Stiles to Laura and back again.

"I need to sit down," Erica whispered. John gave her his seat.

Isaac sat on the ground. Jackson helped Malia sit in his own seat.

Stiles had never seen Boyd's eyes so wide.

"Mother and father will have the Hale heir they demand. You will not have to marry anyone. Everyone will be happy, Derek say something, stop looking at me like that," Laura said.

"You would do that for me?" Derek whispered.

"I would die for you, brother. I might die anyway, if you are not willing to do this," Laura sniffed. Stiles handed her his father's handkerchief. "I need you to rescue me, Der."

Derek's face softened but he nodded. Stiles felt the familiar determination return to the Prince, as it always did. "Of course, Lo. Thank you."

With dawning horror, Stiles realized that Derek was also on the verge of tears. If Derek cried, Lydia would cry, and it was reflex for Stiles to cry with Lydia.

Derek held himself together even if he did bow his head for a moment. When he looked up, he looked around the room. "If anyone says anything beyond our designated lines, I will be forced to put you in a dungeon for Erica's free time."

"No one will say a word," Melissa promised him.

"Then so it will be," Derek said. He stood up and offered Laura his hand and Cora his other one. The guards, still shocked, stood as well. "Return to the castle at your leisure, Stiles. And I apologize for how I reacted."

"I expected it, actually," Stiles said.

"Nonetheless," Derek said.

Stiles bowed his head.

"I will send the gift within the next few days, Your Highness," Jackson said.

Derek nodded and then they were gone.

Stiles nodded to himself and Scott sat down beside him, where Laura had sat and put his arm around Stiles. Stiles leaned into Scott's strong arms and pressed his face to his neck. He could feel the tears gather in his eyes.

For his Prince, he had put everyone he knew and loved in danger. If they were caught, the king and queen would put them all to death for high treason.

"We can do this. We'll be fine," Scott said and pressed his cheek to Stiles's head. "You can do this."


	4. Chapter 4

Instead of joining his guards for their evening meal, Derek sat in his room and stared at the empty fireplace. The plan was foolish and there were too many moving parts for it to actually work. It was crazy and there were far too many lives at stake. Derek should put a stop to it now and attempt to reason with his parents.

But they were too traditional, too stuck in the ways of nobility and court life and he knew that if he went to them, it would mean banishment for Laura.

Derek would rather cut his own arm off.

There was a knock at the door but Derek ignored it. The door opened anyway and a moment later, Boyd sat down across from him.

"Stiles has returned," he reported.

Derek nodded.

"He does not begrudge you your reaction," Boyd said softly.

"Of course he doesn't. It's worse than that. He understands," Derek said.

Boyd was his dearest friend. Derek had dragged him home off the streets one day and screamed the word _abdication_ until his parents agreed to let Boyd stay. They had been five years old. Derek wasn't sure what the word abdication even meant at the time, only that his parents dreaded it. Now, there hadn't been a time in Derek's life that Boyd hadn't been there.

"Is it a relief? Or does it make it worse?" Boyd asked.

Derek knew what Boyd was doing. Boyd wanted him to face his poison, to get rid of it, and move on, if he could.

"I think the relief would have been if Stiles had been the father. Then it would be easy to hate him. But no," Derek shook his head and he would have been humiliated to wipe at his face if it were anyone but Boyd with him. "No, he saved my sister and gave me a small piece of the life I've always wanted."

"It makes it worse, does it not?" Boyd said.

"It does," Derek said and nodded. "He would give his life for his country and for the throne, easily."

Derek stood and crossed the room. He had nowhere to go and returned to his seat once more.

"You could tell him. The depth of your feelings," Boyd said.

"He does not feel the way I do," Derek said.

"Three days ago you were in a rage about how he went home only to see Lady Lydia when he plotted to save the throne and your entire family," Boyd pointed out. "Perhaps you do not know the depth of his feelings?"

"He is here because it is a place of honor," Derek insisted.

Boyd did not reply but when Derek looked up at him, he saw nothing but fondness and frustration. "If you say so, sire."

*~*

As they were taking their morning meal four days later, there was a knock at their doors and Talia and Joseph swept in with their own guards. Everyone around the table stood, including Derek. Talia kissed him and Joseph hugged him and they greeted the guard around the table before waving everyone to sit down.

"You have an invitation," Talia said and handed Derek a stately envelope, thick and creamy, his name printed in a flourish. She leaned forward on her hands and watched him open and read the contents.

"Mother, I can't-" Derek said, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Nonsense," Joseph said and plucked a piece of bacon from Boyd's plate. Boyd took Stiles's. "We already spoke to Danny. He is able to clear your calendar for a vacation."

"Best of all, the Yukiumra family will be here. I imagine that Kira would love to sail the islands with you," Talia added.

Underneath the table, Isaac grabbed Stiles's thigh and clutched him. Stiles wondered if anyone would notice if he excused himself to go throw himself off the highest turret.

"But we have state meetings-" Derek tried.

"Believe it or not, son, I ran this entire country before you came around," Joseph said. "I can handle you gone for a few months. The Whittemores were very generous to make this offer and as one of the most powerful families in the country, it would be wise to make Jackson a close adviser of yours. Now is the time to build those relationships."

Derek was silent and looked down at his invitation.

Finally he sighed and leaned back. "Fine. But you know Cora and Laura will wish to join me."

"They are already packing," Talia said. She leaned over and kissed Derek and as suddenly as they arrived, they were gone.

Malia locked the door behind them and Stiles lowered his head to the table.

"Fuck, fuck, _fuck."_

 _"_ You are friends with Kira, are you not?" Derek hissed.

"I am," Stiles said. "Well, I was, about five years ago, when I saw her last."

"What do you- do you think-?" Derek asked.

Stiles hit his head against the table several times and gritted his teeth. Then he closed his eyes and raised his head. When he looked around the room, everyone was silently watching him.

"Can I see the invitation?" He asked.

Derek handed it over. They were due to leave in five days. If the Yukimura family planned on being here, they must already be in the country.

"So what are you thinking?" Boyd prompted and Stiles realized that he had spoken out loud.

"I need to- Derek, I need to go to her. Just me."

"Go," Derek said and nodded.

"You will have to tell the others-" Stiles stopped, at a loss.

"Your aunt, she is gravely sick," Malia said.

"Melissa has the medicine but it must get there within the day," Erica said. She stood and left the room in a rush, probably to Melissa.

"You had to leave immediately, take His Highness's fastest horse, to get to her," Isaac said and he fled the room as well, no doubt to the stables and to tell Scott.

"You will be back in time for the trip, but it was life or death that you must go _now,"_ Erica said.

"Go," Derek repeated. He stood and pulled Stiles with him and shoved him into his own rooms. There he threw together a bag and handed Stiles a dark cloak. He shoved dark clothes in there, realizing what stupidity Stiles was about to engage in. At the last second, he went to his desk, a massive oak thing in the corner of his overly large room, and unlocked a drawer. He dropped a heavy bag of gold into Stiles's hands.

"I have money-" Stiles said.

"We don't have time," Derek hissed.

Stiles realized that his pride being injured was the least of their issues right now. He took up the cloak instead and dropped the bag into his pocket.

"Be safe," Derek warned.

"Always," Stiles said and left his Prince.


	5. Chapter 5

The cottage that the Yukimura's were staying in for the last leg of their very long journey was actually closer to a small castle than a cottage. Stiles thought for a moment how it should probably be renamed. He sat in the treeline, watching the lights turn off one by one until only one remained. He munched on an apple, and offered his horse one as well.

Isaac and Scott had thrown a little bit of everything from the castle into his saddlebags in their rush but he thanked whoever was watching out for him that they threw rope in there as well. As the stars brightened in the sky and it became navy blue instead of the former velvety purple, Stiles watched the one window with the burning light in it still. He crept closer until he was sure that it was Kira's room as she passed by it, a book in hand.

It was two stories off the grounds and for all the training that he had done under Derek's command, scaling walls was not one of them.

"I guess now is the time to learn," he muttered.

His horse nickered behind him.

Stiles flapped a hand at him, hoping to shush the animal.

Scaling the wall was as difficult as Stiles assumed it would be and he prayed that he didn't fall but if he did, he prayed that he died because if he didn't, Derek and Laura might kill him anyway.

He reached Kira's window with only minimal difficulty and stood on the ledge for a second before he gathered the courage to tap at her window. It took a second to get her attention but when she saw him, her face lit up with delight.

Good old Kira, never one to frighten easily.

Even when she was two stories off the ground and her old childhood friend clung to her window ledge. She pulled the window open and grinned at him.

"Stiles," she said and hugged him fiercely. "I was hoping to see you while we were here."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Stiles agreed.

"Come in, come in," she gestured for him to enter her rooms, as though he had arrived at the front door like a civilized human being instead of someone who was dressed head to toe in black and carrying a rope around his shoulders. "This is a bit more unusual than our last meeting, but I am glad to see you."

Stiles fell on the floor and laid there, breathing hard, shoulders and thighs burning from exertion.

Kira poured him a glass of water and helped him to sit up.

If it were possible, she was lovelier than before, her hair was long and shiny, her grin just as infectious. She wore a long blue robe, the hem of her creamy white pajama pants peeking out from below it.

"I hear you are part of the Crown Prince's guard," she said as he drank deeply. "A most honored position."

"I am," Stiles said and nodded.

"Is it business that brings you by? I have to assume so, from the way you are dressed. Does the Prince have word for me?" She asked. There was something on her face, some kind of hesitation there that he could not read. Maybe if it hadn't been so long since they had last seen each other, Stiles could read her, but now it was too hard to tell.

"In a manner of speaking, it is. I do need to ask you though, that it stay between you and I for now. Would that possible?" Stiles asked.

"Is it important?" Kira whispered.

"Me, my friends, and family could be put to death. The court would be torn apart. I need your word," Stiles said. Maybe it was because he had ridden so hard for so long, maybe it the past week and a half that had gotten to him, but she could hear the note of begging in his voice clearly.

"You have it. I shall not speak of it to anyone-"

"Kira!" A feminine voice called out.

"A moment, mother!" Kira replied and pointed at the bed. Stiles scrambled and slid beneath it.

A second later, the door opened and a pair of slippers entered the room.

"Is there someone else here, darling?" Her mother asked.

"No. Who would be here? It's nearing midnight," Kira said and laughed nervously.

"I thought I heard voices," her mother insisted.

"It's the cottage, mother. It's in an older state."

"I suppose you're right. Get some sleep, do you hear? I can't have you meeting the Crown Prince looking like a servant we have overworked."

"I will mother."

Her mother left a second later but Stiles didn't breathe until he heard the lock on the door.

He pulled himself out from under the bed and Kira helped him up. She gestured to a table and they sat as she poured them both some tea.

"Tell me everything."

So Stiles did. From the first meeting with Laura, to the plans with his friends, to the meeting with Derek, to the invitation the day previous.

Kira's eyes got wider and wider as the story went on and by the end she was holding his hand.

"My dear friend, you have gotten yourself into quite the mess," she whispered.

"I know."

"What can I do?"

Stiles scrubbed his face and leaned back. "Do you wish to marry the Prince?" He asked.

"With all my heart, no," Kira replied earnestly, like she had been waiting for the question a very long time.

"What? Why not?" Stiles said, feeling slightly offended on Derek's behalf.

"I do not know the man and if this is the way he feels about marrying me, I can't help but to tell you no, Stiles. I don't blame him. I don't want to pretend to be something I'm not either," Kira replied.

"He is a good man. Very handsome, he loves his country, he is a hard worker, he is very kind, very good with children-"

"Perhaps you should marry him instead," Kira said.

It felt like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water over his head.

Stiles had never let himself think that way. He simply couldn't. If he let his mind stray down that path, he knew he would quickly come to the point of no return and the rest of his life would be spent in absolute misery.

"I- I don't- Why would you- Prince Derek is my-" Stiles stopped, when he realized how stupid he sounded.

Kira remained silent but she did smirk.

"Please, one problem at a time," Stiles pleaded.

"All right then. What shall you have me do?" Kira asked.

Once more, Stiles began to explain.

*~*

Stiles arrived back to the castle late the next morning. He was exhausted and felt slightly ill. Scott was at the stables, waiting for him, Isaac at his side.

 _Very close_ at his side, Stiles noted.

"Please, one problem at at time," he murmured as he and his exhausted horse approached, slowly.

Scott helped him down and Isaac hurried him to the castle. He shoved him into the bathroom and when he came out, Malia was there with his formal uniform, and helped him dress. She was buckling his sword around his waist while he attempted to tame his hair when Derek entered with everyone else.

There was a cup of coffee in the Prince's hand. Derek handed it to Stiles and Stiles drank and signaled to Isaac for another.

"How did it go?" Liam asked brightly from the door and everyone jumped.

"Well, she is getting better," Stiles nodded. "Everything will be fine." He added, more for Derek's sake than Liam's.

"I'm glad to hear. Cora sent me to inform you that the Yukimura family has just arrived," Liam said and then disappeared again.

"I feel as though death were preferable at this point," he confided in Derek.

"We are in far too deep now," Derek said.

Stiles sighed and finished his cup and then they all left his rooms. He never did get his second cup.

Welcoming another royal family was all pomp and circumstance and this time was no different. The heralds announced the arrival of the family, horns trumpeted and Derek was first in line to greet them, with guards standing close by.

Kira, as always, was the picture of elegance and grace. She accepted some flowers from two small children and offered them kisses in return. She was heartbreakingly beautiful, his friend, and she smiled graciously at the king and queen before she was presented to Derek.

"Your Highness," she said and curtsied before him, her every movement perfect and well studied.

"It is my pleasure, Princess Kira," Derek said and kissed her hand.

She rewarded him with a sweet and shy smile and Derek smiled back in return.

Stiles watched the crowd closely because that was his job. Derek's life was more important than watching how he greeted the beautiful woman in front of him and Stiles had to keep his eyes on anything that could be a target.

He did not look away because it felt like someone was shoving one of Erica's favorite knives through his heart, no matter what anyone would like to think. Prince Derek and the royal family were his job and he had sworn that no matter what happened, he would keep them safe and keep them alive.

"If you glare at the crowd any harder, they might mistake you for Derek," Boyd whispered.

Stiles wanted to punch him in the throat.

"Please, you must be exhausted," King Joseph said and led the family into one of the more intimate gathering halls they had.

The one they all sat in was green and gold, perfect for Derek's coloring and his jacket that he wore. Stiles knew that Talia had engineered it that way.

As they were seated, the queen herself looked startled to see Stiles standing behind Derek and Kira, where they were seated on a couch.

"Sir Stilinski, I didn't expect you here," she said.

"Arrived just this morning, Your Majesty," Stiles said.

"And your aunt? How does she fare?" King Joseph asked but turned to the Yukimura family and explained, "Sir Stilinski is the son of our local Constable, John Stilinski. His sister fell ill quite suddenly and she was unable to get to a healer. Stiles consulted with our healer who was able to get the medicine to him but he had to leave very suddenly. She was on her deathbed, was she not, Sir?"

"She was but she felt better almost right away. I stayed the night and returned this morning. My uncle is watching after her," Stiles said.

The entire room went still and Talia narrowed her eyes at Stiles. "Derek said that she lived alone."

"My step-uncle, I apologize, Your Majesty," Stiles said. "It has been some time since I've seen her and the last time I was there, she was unmarried. Her husband had passed years ago and in the time since I've last seen her, she re-married. I only just found out myself." Stiles gave her a crooked smile. "Poor man almost met the wrong end of my sword when he walked into the house."

The room laughed and everyone looked to Derek and Kira and began to discuss their upcoming trip. Behind Stiles's back, Erica squeezed his arm.


	6. Chapter 6

"All packed, Sir," the servant announced cheerily to Stiles.

"Thank you," Stiles muttered and tipped the man as he scurried out of Stiles's rooms. There was much coming and going throughout the castle as they readied for their trip. There was more to prepare for than Stiles realized and he thought he was getting sick. His vision was blurred and he knew he looked pale, even in the mirror.

Derek's guard had followed him and Kira around the day previous as he showed her the grounds and the city. They had even stopped at John's house where Kira was delighted to see him once again, giving him a big hug, and a small present that she had brought along with her. It was a smooth, wooden mug with an elk carved into it, beautiful in its detail. Then she had returned to the horse she and Derek had shared and John had pulled Stiles aside to say goodbye.

The trip was only supposed to be for a few months but they both knew it would be at least a year before they saw each other again.

"Take care of yourself, not just him," John said and jerked his head to where Derek and Kira sat, both beautiful and charming on the great black stallion.

"I will," Stiles promised.

John looked at him.

"It's been a rough two weeks, dad. Once we are there, I will get some more rest," Stiles said.

John looked doubtful but hugged him and wished them all a safe trip.

Now he sat, at daybreak, turning his father's wedding band over and over in his fingertips. It had been a final gift from his father. The previous day, how happy Kira and Derek had looked, kept playing in his mind.

"What's that?" Derek asked from the door.

Stiles jumped, so lost in thought he hadn't even heard Derek approach.

"Oh, my father's wedding ring. He gave it to me yesterday," Stiles said.

"May I?" Derek asked and nodded at the ring in Stiles's hand.

Stiles handed it over.

"Where is your mother's ring?" Derek asked softly.

Stiles pulled the matching ring from his pocket and let Derek hold it as well.

"They loved each other very much. My mother talks about how much she envied them when she fought with my father," Derek remarked.

"My parents didn't fight. They were too much in love. To the point of being quite gross to their young son," Stiles said with a chuckle.

"I wish I remembered her," Derek said and pulled a chain off of his own neck. It had the triskelion medallion on it, the royal family symbol, and slid the two rings onto the chain and offered it back to Stiles. "I would hate to see what kind of state you would be in if you lost those."

"Thank you," Stiles said, touched. He pulled the chain over his head and he couldn't help but notice that the medallion was still warm from Derek's skin.

"I like Kira," Derek said suddenly.

"Anyone who doesn't like Kira is either mad or a monster," Stiles agreed. He felt the weariness of the world press down on him.

"She told me she knows everything and she has no judgement. If she can help in any way, she offered it," Derek went on.

Stiles nodded. She had said the same thing to him.

"She is a good and wonderful person and I am honored to know her. But she has also agreed that neither one of us would be happy with the other," Derek said.

"Are you sad?" Stiles asked. Their trunks were being carried out now.

"A little," Derek admitted.

"Why?" Stiles asked. He felt sloppy, sick with exhaustion.

"Because if I am forced to marry someone, she would have been it. If my tastes were more towards the type of someone to give me an heir, she would have been the one."

"But they are not," Stiles said.

"No, they are not." Derek paused and Stiles felt like the world was tipping on its axis, like he was falling into a place where everything looked the same but felt different. Like reaching for silk and touching velvet. "Where do your tastes lie, Stiles?"

Stiles smiled and looked down at his boots. They were very shiny. It must have been Malia who had done that for him. She was better than he deserved.

"I fear I will not have an heir either, to whatever I earn in this life."

The silence in the room was soft, somehow. Sweet like the spring in a field of heather.

"There are worse things," Derek murmured and Stiles watched his boots as they turned and left his room.

The ride to the boat was a blur but Stiles was quite proud that he managed to stay upright the entire time. Trunks were loaded and goodbyes were said and then they were climbing on Jackson's ship, one of the smaller ones, and waving goodbye to the ones that remained on the shore.

As soon as the shoreline was out of sight, Stiles stumbled and fell to his knees. He was pretty sure he had a fever.

As his vision clouded and then darkened, Stiles knew his friends were gathering around him and he knew, once he had a nap, everything would be fine.


	7. Chapter 7

Seeing Stiles stumble and fall to his knees made Derek's heart jump but when he collapsed, he feared that it might not start again.

Lydia reached him first and pressed a hand to his head. Derek fell next to her.

"When was the last time he got any rest? More than a few hours?" She asked.

Derek was at a loss. He shook his head.

"Before he left for his father's that weekend," Scott supplied.

"Get him below deck," Lydia ordered and Derek immediately lifted him up in his arms. He carried him down and into his own cabin and put him down on the bed. Lydia began to pull his boots off and Derek unbuckled his sword and the belt around his trousers. He handed both off to whoever was hovering behind him and someone handed Derek a loose tunic.

"No clothes," Lydia instructed when she saw it in Derek's hands. "He is far too warm."

Derek set it aside.

"What can I do?" Jackson said.

"Water," Lydia said. "Do you have anything cold on board?"

"Ale," Jackson said.

"Bottled?"

"Yes."

"Bring them."

He and Lydia worked quietly side by side, lining Stiles's body with cold bottles of ale and Kira arrived with a cool compress for his forehead.

"What happened?" She asked softly.

"I believe he is just exhausted," Lydia said. "And who knows when the last time he had a real meal was?"

"Before he left to meet Kira," Derek said. He felt guilty for putting so much on Stiles and relying on him so heavily. Of course he would work himself into unconsciousness.

The look Lydia gave him didn't help.

"How many days until we reach the island?" Kira said. She brushed aside Stiles's hair and stroked his cheek with her thumb.

"You love him," Derek said, sounding dumb to his own ears.

"When I met him, I knew he was the little brother I always wanted. I fell in love with him then and have loved him since. Much like anyone who meets him falls in love with him," Kira said and there was a note of knowing in her voice that Derek wasn't comfortable with.

"Well, when he wakes up, I'm going to beat the health back into him," Lydia said.

"Would you mind some company?" Kira asked.

"The more, the merrier, I say."

"How many days, Derek? Till the island?" Kira repeated.

"Three."

Kira was silent and then she said, "If he is not awake before we reach the island, we must turn around. If he does not wake, I fear he won't, not ever."

*~*

"If we all did it at once, do you think we could get him up here?" Cora asked casually. It was their second day of sailing and Stiles had woken for a moment for some water before falling asleep again.

Derek had not left his side.

Kira was confident that since Stiles woke, he would make it to the island just fine. Lydia agreed and those on board, with the exception of Derek, relaxed.

"I would not like to try," Scott said and stood to join the guards, a few steps away.

"Nor I," Lydia agreed.

Laura leaned over the railing and vomited, again.

"Leave him," Jackson said. He had been rather stiff towards Derek since Stiles had fallen ill, going out of his way to avoid being around Derek. Lydia had confided in Cora and Kira that Jackson blamed Derek for Stiles falling sick.

"Can we go any faster?" Laura asked as she sat down once more next to her sister. Then she stretched out on the bench and put her head in Cora's lap. Cora unfastened her hair and began to stroke her hair. Laura relaxed, inch by inch.

"I am sorry, Princess. I wish we could," Jackson said.

"Do you have a teapot?" Kira asked and rummaged in her bag. Cora watched her and Jackson led her down below and quickly came back up.

Kira joined them moments later, a steaming cup in her hand and pressed it into Laura's.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Ginger, a bit of honey and lemon. It will not harm the baby and should give you some relief," Kira said.

Everyone stiffened at her words. So far they had managed to avoid discussing why they were all here.

"Oh, are we not? Are we not speaking about it?" Kira asked. She blushed and looked down. "I apologize, Princess."

"No, don't be silly. It's just- we haven't had the time to speak of it. It has been one thing after another and now, with Stiles, it seems like we should wait," Laura said. She sat up and took a sip of the tea and then another, larger one. "This is good."

Scott and the rest of the guards were at the helm of the ship, watching the others.

"Do you think this will work?" Erica asked.

"It had better," Scott said and squinted at the endless blue. "Else we will all be hung for treason."

"Do you think so?" Boyd asked seriously.

"Maybe not the royal family, but the rest of us, yes."

"Are you mad at Derek?" Isaac asked Scott.

"I hate him right now," Scott said but did not take his eyes off the sea. There was no need. They could all feel the meaning behind his words. "Stiles has taken care of everybody all his life. And when it came to something as big as this, he should not have taken on so much alone. Derek could have sent me to Kira. Derek could have given him time to rest instead of parading him and the rest of you around the grounds and the city. Derek could have taken a moment to look at him to see that he was getting sicker by the day."

"He sees him now," Malia pointed out.

Scott snorted. "Fat lot of good that did Stiles."

"In his defense, Derek had a great deal of things to take care of himself," Boyd said.

"Yet he got his meals and he got his rest," Scott said.

No one had anything to say after than and Scott left their group to sit next to Jackson once more.

Down below, Derek read out loud from a book he had found. " _These thoughts exhilarated me and led me to apply with fresh ardour to the acquiring the art of language. My organs were indeed harsh, but supple; and although my voice was very unlike the soft music of their tones, yet I pronounced such words as I understood with tolerable ease-"_

"Please stop," Stiles muttered. "I fear that if you go on with that book anymore I will really slip into a coma."

Derek dropped the book and turned to look at him. He was pale still, but that would be replaced with plenty of sunshine and air. He needed a bath but so did Derek. His face was still waxen but his gaze was steady and when he held his hand out to Derek, his grip was strong for a person who had lain in bed all day.

"Well, I had to entertain myself since someone decided that sleep was more important than tending to my every whim," Derek replied and his voice cracked.

"My deepest apologies, my Prince. I will do whatever it is that you ask so that I might win your favor and forgiveness," Stiles said.

"I believe you have done enough. I think it is I who need to ask for forgiveness and favor."

"Perhaps," Stiles said and glanced at the water next to him. Derek reluctantly let go of Stiles's hand and poured him some. He had to get up on the bed to help Stiles sit up so that he didn't drown himself in Derek's bed. He drank deeply and closed his eyes. "I will keep you to that promise, I would have you know."

"What promise?" Derek asked.

"That you will do whatever I ask to regain my favor," Stiles said and even though his eyes remained shut, he smiled.

Derek felt something loosen in his chest when he saw Stiles smile and brought his hand up to his own cheek. "Ask it and it will be yours."

"Remember than, Crown Prince Hale. Remember that promise."


	8. Chapter 8

When they reached land mid-day the next day, Scott and Jackson were there to help Stiles walk ashore.

"Are you sure that I didn't die?" Stiles asked.

"The whole ship must have crashed," Scott agreed as they both looked around.

The small villa itself was a bright white and the sands of the beach were equally bright. The palm trees swayed in the breeze and in the distance, there seemed to be some wild horses munching on grass. The roof of the villa was painted blue and there were many windows and breezeways. The steps were well worn but not in a state of disrepair. Instead it added to the air of the island that seemed to whisper, "Welcome home."

"Do you like it?" Jackson asked.

"I have never been somewhere so beautiful," Stiles said honestly.

"I sent servants ahead and they should have readied everything. They will have left by now, so there is no worries about us being seen by anyone else," Jackson said.

Malia and Erica were blinking around at their surroundings, as in awe as Scott and Stiles.

"Let us get you to your room so that we might unpack," Scott said.

Stiles wanted to protest, wanted to help but he got a stern look from Kira which made him close his mouth and let Jackson and Scott take him to his room.

It seemed like the entire residence was one floor and Stiles's room was in a wing that Derek would be as well. Neither Scott nor Jackson seemed pleased with the Prince at the moment but Stiles decided to wait to address it. As soon as he was helped to bed and given more water, he fell asleep once more.

*~*

Derek and his guard helped to unpack the ship and Laura and Cora were sent off to find their rooms. Kira insisted on helping and everyone seemed impressed with the princess's strength and ability to help.

"I was conscripted before I was allowed to be named heir," Kira said and wiped at her face.

"What?" Malia said, aghast.

Kira nodded. "Tradition, but I think it really helps to see the other side of things as well."

"Did you fight?" Erica asked, interest perked.

"I did," Kira said.

"What if you had died?" Isaac asked.

"I don't know," Kira said thoughtfully. "But I didn't, so I guess that's the important part."

Most of their things were unloaded by the time Scott and Jackson returned and by nightfall, everything was in the villa.

They gathered in the kitchen, gleaming counters and wood burning stove dominating the space. Cora and Isaac had managed to scrape together a meal of cheese and bread and meat and some broth for Stiles. Meals would become better as soon as the guards were sent off to hunt for fresh meat and vegetables could be picked from the overgrown garden.

"So what do we do now?" Lydia asked after they had all eaten.

Everyone turned to Derek, oldest and highest ranking of them all.

"Now, we wait," he said.

*~*

Stiles's strength returned to him, bit by bit. Laura lived with a cup of steaming ginger tea in her hand for those first few weeks as well. The island was not so large that it could not be monitored by the Prince's guard but it was still large enough to support wildlife.

Derek found that he loved fishing.

A supply ship swung by their island once a week to trade or sell and Derek was always there to buy things for his small group, hardly haggling, handing over whatever the merchant named as the price. She often joked with Derek, calling him her favorite customer. She always let him have first pick of what he wanted, fruits or loose dresses, loose tunics and britches, pretty stones and books Derek had never even heard of.

Laura stayed inside when the ship came by, her belly growing larger by the week. Derek never forgot to ask for the sweets she begged for, though, always coming back with several bags for her and Cora.

Cora and Laura learned how to cook from Isaac and Malia. As soon as they had the basics down, they ventured outside of the recipes, trying new things more often than not.

Boyd seemed more at ease on the island and Derek had never seen Erica smile more.

"You should ask her if she could get chickens," Jackson said once to Derek.

"Chickens?" Derek said.

"Eggs. Or we could just eat them," Jackson said.

On the next trip, Derek made the request to the merchant and the following week she returned with three hens and a rooster.

Lydia wrote faithfully to her parents every other day, updating them on the island and how they all fared, sent the letters with the merchant who suggested that Lydia buy a pretty scarf for her hair.

Lydia agreed and Derek paid.

Lydia wrote of the beautiful island girl that captured Derek's attention. Her skin was pale and smooth and her smile lit up the entire room. They were all quite taken with this girl, Derek in particular. Her eyes were the color of well worn wood, and she followed Derek's every move as he did with her.

Kira was hurt but also a romantic, she explained to her mother. She understood and had no desire to stand in the way of true love. Lydia read the letters out loud to them all as they sat around the bonfire in the evenings. She said that Derek was true and followed his heart and this heart was set on this girl and he loved her as Lydia had rarely seen.

"She makes you sound romantic," Stiles whispered one night as Lydia read out loud to them.

"I could be," Derek said, trying very hard to be hurt.

Stiles smiled.

Laura ate as she pleased and the baby grew larger in her belly. Lydia checked her often, had her nose buried in books that Melissa had snuck to Jackson to take on board and she reported that everything was going as planned.

One afternoon, as Laura lay dozing in the sunlight, Lydia paused at her side and knelt. She lifted Laura's loose shirt and pressed an ear to her belly. She reached for Laura's hand before she got her hopes too high up and searched for Laura's pulse as she listened. When she was sure that the rhythm was different, she knew that she was hearing the baby's heartbeat for the first time.

"What is it?" Laura whispered.

"I can hear your baby," Lydia whispered back.

"Really?" Laura whispered.

Lydia nodded and tried not to cry but she was far too overwhelmed. "I can hear your baby and they sound perfect."

"Well, the baby isn't mine, but-" Laura nodded and her eyes were bright as well. "Yes, thank you, Lydia."

*~*

"What is it?" Scott asked as they tended the bonfire. The others were inside, gathering their meal and blankets. The wind was picking up now at nights and it was colder than it had been. Colder for most, anyway. Laura was constantly warm now and hated being covered up more than she had to be. Lydia assured them it was normal, that Laura had more blood in her body now and it caused her to feel warmer.

"I was thinking of swimming out to the outcropping on the east side of the island tomorrow," Stiles said. Although that hadn't been what was on his mind at all. He had been thinking how Derek had been smiling so much more here, how he looked good with golden skin, how his hair was longer and curled at the nape of his neck.

"Sure you were," Scott said, good-naturedly.

Stiles pointed a burning stick at Scott and Scott grinned at him. "Perhaps Derek would like to join you, I know he has mentioned that he has wanted to try the fishing from there."

"Where?" Derek said, carrying a pile of blankets and startling Stiles.

"Stiles was going to the outcropping tomorrow. On the east side of the island," Scott said.

"Would you mind company?" Derek asked.

"Of course not," Stiles said as Derek created a small nest for Laura to sit on.

As the others gathered around the fire and Lydia read out loud the latest adventure of Derek and his lovely island girl, the others listened closely.

Stiles did not. All he could feel was the warmth of the triskelion around his neck and how Derek's leg pressed against his.


	9. Chapter 9

The day dawned bright and warm, like all their other days on the island. Derek strapped his fishing pole to his back and Stiles followed him out the front doors of their home.

It took an hour for them to make it to the east side of the island and they rested for a moment and ate while they looked out at the large rock that rose from the sea. It was covered in moss and other small plants, one large tree growing out the top that practically begged Stiles to doze beneath it.

"Are you happy?" Derek asked softly.

Since the time Stiles had been sick on the boat and shortly before they left the mainland, neither one had spoken to the other about what they had hinted at. It seemed too early, too soon, and Stiles was terrified of it floating away on the winds of the island.

"I have never in my life been happier," Stiles replied.

Derek nodded and stood. He stripped off his shirt and even though this was not anywhere near the first time he had seen Derek without his shirt on, Stiles got a little dizzy.

"You're staring," Derek accused as he bent and picked up the fishing pole to lash it to himself so he wouldn't lose it while they swam.

"I deeply apologize," Stiles said and stood. He also stripped off his shirt and they stood on the shore, the water lapping at their feet.

They were both bronzed now from the sun. Working and hunting had given Stiles more muscle and only toned Derek more.

Derek reached out and brushed his fingers along Stiles's forearm, so light that it barely seemed there. Stiles met his eyes as Derek looked to him.

"You don't have to. I welcome it," Derek murmured before stepping into the water.

Stiles watched as he continued on into the water before he realized he was meant to follow.

It was a short swim but after their walk, it was welcome. The water was cool without being unpleasant and clear as glass. They climbed the outcropping and Stiles smiled when he thought of the night that he climbed into Kira's room.

She had fit in with the rest of them like she was their missing piece. She had a surprising amount of medical knowledge and helped Lydia with Laura as much as she could. She often cooked but more often she could be found with Erica and Scott, hunting.

By the time Stiles reached the top of the outcropping, Derek was already settling himself on the ground with his fishing pole.

"How will you return to the life of a royal after this?" Stiles asked as leaned back against the tree.

Derek smiled and Stiles warmed under it even though it was directed more at the sea than it was at him. "I have no idea. Maybe I will abdicate and live out my life as a simple fisherman on the islands. Maybe Laura will reign and I will raise my child out here and he will learn how to fish and hunt and be grateful for all the small things he can have by his own two hands."

"And if you have a daughter?" Stiles asked.

"Then she will be the fiercest warrior in all the land and she will have the same happiness that I have had these past days, for all her life," Derek said. He casted his line out to the sea.

Silence fell between them and Stiles could feel his eyes grow heavy.

*~*

Derek watched as Stiles drifted off and he marveled at the ease of the people around him. He studied Stiles's sleeping face and and smirked. He looked younger and softer, his hair so much longer. His father had written to him and for hours, Stiles had read and re-read the bundle of letters. He had managed to deduce from the letters that the king and queen were furious with Derek but it all fell away out here.

Eventually, yes, he would have to leave this island and return to his life that was scheduled for months in advance. Eventually they would all have to go back to the lives that they had left but for now, they had this. The wind, the sand, the food, the ease of company. Their court rules had long been abandoned and now even Scott called him just Derek.

No more Crown Prince, no more royal titles, it was simple out here, and that simplicity bled over into all of them and their behaviors.

Eventually the sound of the wind in the tree and the water lapping below them began to lull Derek into a soft drowsiness and before he knew it, he was stretching out in the sun too, his fishing forgotten.

*~*

When Stiles blinked awake, Derek was laying next to him, fast asleep. He was laying on his stomach, his head cushioned by his arm, breathing deeply.

The longer hair suited him, Stiles decided. He wished that Derek would keep it but he knew he wouldn't, not for court.

"Are you happy?" Stiles asked and rolled over onto his side to face Derek.

"I have never been happier in any single other moment of my life," Derek said. His eyes were still closed and he smiled and this time, Stiles claimed it for all his own.

Stiles brushed his hair off Derek's forehead and his fingers lingered there. He brushed it back and stroked Derek's hair, the strands falling through his fingers. With his fingers, he stroked the skin on Derek's forehead and it was softer than he thought it would be.

"I must advise you against that, good sir," Derek said and he smiled.

"Why? You seem to enjoy it," Stiles said and ran his fingers through Derek's hair once more.

"I do indeed enjoy it. I might enjoy it too much and will seek you out for more of this," Derek replied.

"All you have to do is ask," Stiles said and his hand trailed down the back of Derek's hair and down the warm skin of his back.

"You give me dangerous leeway, good sir," Derek said and shivered as Stiles slid his fingers down Derek's back.

"I give you the same," Stiles said, hypnotized by the sight of Derek so relaxed.

At that, Derek did open his eyes. "Do you?"

"I do indeed," Stiles said.

"To your Prince?" Derek asked.

Stiles knew a minefield when he saw it. "If you were born a poor fisherman and could only give me a boat you made with your own hands and the sea and the sky, I would still give you the same."

"This is dangerous," Derek breathed.

"It is," Stiles said and pulled his hand away.

"This whole thing is dangerous," Derek said and rolled onto his side so that he could face Stiles directly. Now they mirrored each other's position. He reached for Stiles's hand and pressed a kiss to his palm and Stiles felt like his heart dropped to his knees. Derek closed his eyes and held his hand to his cheek. "Your plan. Of you getting into my guard in the first place, that was wildly dangerous. Any of those people could have killed you."

"Not me," Stiles said. "I'm not done here."

"With what?" Derek asked and Stiles cupped his cheek

"With my life, with my friends, with my family. I am not done with life, with seeing, with fighting, with eating, with any of it. I have so much yet more to see, so much more yet to do." Stiles said.

Derek sat up and nudged Stiles back so that he was laying again. Then he leaned over and cushioned his chin his hands, rested them upon Stiles's chest.

"Would you run away with me?" Derek asked.

"All you have to do is ask," Stiles said easily. "I would follow you wherever you lead."

"You would follow your Prince where he led," Derek said.

"I would. I am honor bound to my Prince and country. I would go anywhere he asked, do whatever he asked. I would die for him over and over, if he asked. He is a great leader, will do great things for our country, and I am excited to see what he will do for us, all the good and great things he will do," Stiles said. "But if Derek left, if he picked up in the middle of the night and left us, I would follow him to the ends of the world. If he wanted to be a simple fisherman, I would learn to sail. If he wanted to be a farmer, I would learn to a milk a cow. Derek is a good man that I cherish more dearly than I can say."

Were Derek not already laying down, Stiles probably could have knocked him over with a feather.

"Did you truly not know?" Stiles whispered.

"I couldn't let myself hope," Derek replied. "My life, my family-"

"I love them all. Your sisters, your parents, I love them as they are my own. You gave me brothers and sisters in your guards."

"When we return, I will be a father. I will have enraged my parents. I will have a child. What will we do?" Derek asked.

"Must we think of that now?" Stiles asked. "Can this not just be for now?"

"I don't see why not," Derek said and sighed as Stiles played with his hair, letting the strands fall through his fingers again. "But I want more than this."

Stiles raised an eyebrow and Derek smiled arrogantly. "Yes that but more than that as well."

"When I was working out this plan, this foolish plan, I used to say, one problem at a time," Stiles said. The warmth of Derek's skin pressing into his own was intoxicating.

"You are not a problem," Derek said.

"My father would very much beg to differ," Stiles said.

Behind Derek, the sky darkened.

"We have been gone all day," Stiles remarked. Derek sat up and pulled Stiles with him. Derek hummed and traced Stiles's collarbone with his fingertips. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss there. "I'm surprised that no one has come to get us. We might miss Lydia's-"

Derek pulled back and Stiles frowned as he did. They both turned to the shoreline and in the distance, the villa. The bonfire should be going by now, Derek thought as he stood and pulled Stiles with him. There should be smoke and they should be able to see it.

They both backed up to the edge of the outcropping and ran, diving off the edge at the same time and swimming for the shore. They ran for the shore but Stiles stopped. "We shouldn't approach from the front," he said.

"We don't have any weapons," Derek said.

"That's not a problem," Stiles said and led Derek north, deeper into the thick forest of the island. When he saw the strangely shaped tree that he and the other guards had picked out. At the base, he dropped to his hands and knees and began to dig. Derek fell next to him and Stiles realized that they had left their shirts and Derek's fishing rod at the beach.

It wasn't too far down when they found what he and the others had buried. A cross bow, four swords, a set of small daggers, a bow and some arrows.

Stiles grabbed one of the swords and the bow and arrow. Derek took two swords. They left the rest of it.

Stiles led Derek through the brush and they approached from the north, from the back of the villa. The land around them continued to darken and they knew for sure now that there was no bonfire. There had not been a night that they had spent on this island, save for the first one, that they had skipped the bonfire.

As they approached, Stiles felt his entire being seize up.

A man stood in their common gathering room, Isaac on his knees in front of him, bloody and beaten. Erica and Malia were tied up nearby, back to back. Boyd was tied to a pillar. Scott was unmoving near Isaac's legs. Another man held Lydia. A gag was muffling her screams.

"Tell me where they are," the man said. He was young and arrogant, a pirate that was used to having his way.

He had picked the wrong man. Isaac was far too used to taking a beating, Stiles knew.

Isaac grinned up at the man. "Who?" He asked innocently. His face and shirt were bloody and he looked mad.

The man backhanded Isaac and he crumpled.

Another man brought Jackson in.

"I believe I will be committing mass murder tonight," Stiles said softly.

"Do you see my sisters? Kira?" Derek asked.

"I am sure they are after the royalty. Isaac must have hid them. Perhaps Boyd hid them away."

"What shall we do?" Derek asked. He was used to fighting but not with the lives of his loved ones on the line.

"Get Malia and Erica free, first. Then find the others. I plan on killing them all and I will not be showing any mercy."

"So it shall be," Derek said.

Stiles let the first arrow fly.

*~*

Boyd saw the ship first.

"Was the merchant ship due back soon?" He asked Lydia.

"It was only here two days ago. It would not have time," she said and glanced up at the ship that had caught Boyd's eye. Laura and Kira sat nearby, speaking quietly, as Kira sewed a new bonnet for the baby. She had made more than the child could possibly wear but it kept her hands busy so Derek never said anything.

Cora was in the kitchen with Isaac and Malia.

"Derek is with Stiles," Boyd said, following Lydia's train of thought. "Jackson and Scott are taking inventory of our current food supply."

"Are you worried?"

"Only since Derek dragged me in on off the streets and screamed abdication until the royal family allowed me to stay."

Boyd meant it as a joke but Lydia did not laugh. Instead she pressed her lips together and stood. Laura saw her and followed her line of sight.

"Will someone fetch my brother?" Laura asked politely.

"Yes," Lydia said and turned to the eastern edge of the island.

"I don't like this," Kira said.

Boyd didn't like it either but he wasn't ready to admit to it yet. He didn't want to cause a panic among the royals and with Derek gone, Boyd was in charge.

"Boyd?" Malia called out.

A boat was lowered to the sea from the ship and at least seven men climbed into it.

Kira stood and Boyd went to Laura and helped her to her feet before picking her up in his arms. "Princess," Boyd said to Cora and jerked his head so that she would follow him. Cora hurried after him, the sound of her title jarring her into a near panic. They went for the forest behind the villa when Boyd realized that Kira was not with them.

"Princess!" Boyd called.

"I can stay. I can fight," she said.

"And if you are taken, it will start a war and this baby will be the least of our concerns," Boyd said.

Kira glared at him but followed.

Boyd led them deeper and deeper until they reached a small building and ushered them inside. "Lock it behind me. Weapons are beneath the bed. Do not come out unless it is someone you know."

*~*

Lydia saw the second boat before she reached the place where Derek and Stiles had said they would be. The sun was sinking swiftly below the horizon and she had just enough light to turn around and run back to the villa.

It was in sight when she was tackled from the side and she hit the ground and rolled. There was someone on top of her but she hadn't spent the last four months on this island with some of the most highly trained guards in the kingdom not to learn anything. As she landed on her back, she brought her knees to her chest and kicked out.

If it were one of the guards teasing her, she would not feel sorry.

If it were not one of her group, she would make them pay.

Her feet met with something soft and there was a grunt above her. She brought her arms up to protect her face but received a swift punch to the stomach for her troubles. She was jerked to her feet and thrown over someone's shoulder and the last thing she thought she saw was someone standing up on the outcropping where Stiles and Derek should have been.

*~*

"What do you want?" Boyd asked.

"A royal child. I'm not picky," the man said.

Barely a man, Boyd figured. Derek would notice soon that they had yet to come retrieve him and Stiles and he would come and free them so that they could kill the pirates ransacking their villa.

"There are no royals here, how stupid are you? How many times must we repeat ourselves?" Erica snarled.

"Gag her," the man said and turned to Boyd. "Perhaps if we were more civilized, you would be more willing to answer my questions. I go by Theo. And you must be Boyd."

"Why would a member of the royal family be here? And no, my name is Vernon," Boyd said.

Theo raised an eyebrow. "Sure it is. Boyd," he pointed at him and turned. "Malia, Erica, and Isaac is missing. As is the young one, the other new guard. Strange name."

"Stiles," one guard provided.

Theo clicked his tongued and nodded. "That one."

Two men brought in Isaac and Scott, both of them struggling against the ropes that had been hastily tied around their wrists.

Theo frowned at them and turned to their captors. "I sent three more with you."

One man shook his head.

"Delightful," Theo murmured, drawing out the word. He studied Boyd and nodded. "Tie this one to the pillar and bring me the pretty one."

Boyd struggled but then another man brought Lydia in. He stopped when he saw her, dirty and her dress torn.

"Is this a princess?" He asked and dumped her at Theo's feet.

"No," Theo said and frowned. "Noble, House of Martin, the youngest Lady. Close." Theo reached down and stroked her cheek. Lydia jerked from his touch and spat in his face.

Theo sat back. "You'll pay for that, my Lady." He wiped his face with his sleeve and pointed to the man that brought her in. "Gag her and hold her. When I am done with the pretty one, she will be next."

The man who brought her in picked her up and ripped the scarf from her head and tied it around her mouth. Another man gave him something else, it looked like part of a curtain, to tie her hands with. Isaac was shoved to his knees at Theo's feet and looked at him. He grinned, slow and easy, like he was greeting an old friend.

"Where are they?" Theo asked.

"Who?"

"The royal family."

"I imagine in their grand castle, sipping champagne and counting their gold."

"We were told they were here."

"You were told wrong. There is no royalty here. Only servants to the Lady and her friends."

Theo punched him in the face. Blood flowed from Isaac's nose.

"Where. Are. They?" Theo asked again.

"Who?"

From behind Theo, the man holding Lydia choked and his hold on her tightened enough to bring her down with him as he fell. She twisted away from him, pulling out of his grip, closer to Malia and Erica.

He had an arrow in his throat that he was grasping at, futilely.

Another guard and another guard fell, all arrows through the throat.

Stiles's trademark and a welcome sight indeed.

Lydia kept her head down and grasped at Erica's boot, laced high up. Her fingers trembled as she jerked the laces loose and it was almost entirely off of her leg and Erica was encouraging behind her gag and Lydia could _see it_ , right there, the silver glinting against Erica's leg-

Then a hand was pulling her away and she was screaming at the man who was pulling her away from Erica and her pretty silver knives she had taught Lydia to use.

He was a big man and Lydia twisted again, so that he was dragging her while she lay on her back and she prayed for a bit of luck, just one small piece of it-

And then the man was there but her hands were tied and the angle was all wrong and everything that Erica and Malia taught her flew out of her head and she spun the silver knife so that it was pointed outwards and aimed for his face. It sank in, far too easily and Lydia's mind blanked but her instincts took over. She twisted the knife and jerked it out and tried, once more to get out from underneath the man before he fell on her.

Then another hand was jerking her up, knocking the blade from her hand, and pressed a sword to her throat.

The room went still.

"Tell me where they are and this one will leave my hands uninjured. Stiles, I assume?"

Stiles stepped through a breezeway, his bow still in his hands. He was out of arrows.

"No, that's not my name," Stiles said softly. "My name is Danny."

"Where is the royal family?" Theo hissed and pressed the knife harder to Lydia's throat.

"In their castle, I have no idea. Let her go," Stiles said.

"She will die unless you tell me where the royal family is," Theo said evenly.

"I'm right here," a voice whispered in Theo's ear.

Derek was too fast for Theo and Theo was not expecting the Crown Prince himself to make an appearance. He was under the impression that most of the public was; that Derek led his men and army into war but never engaged in the fight himself.

The men and women who followed Derek knew that was wrong. Derek fought with them, most of the time on the frontlines.

Derek snaked his hand around Theo's arm that was holding the blade and twisted it cruelly around and Stiles heard the snap. Lydia stumbled away from them and into Stiles's arms. He helped her to the ground and then went to Malia and Erica. He used the knife to cut them free and then Boyd.

When he turned, Derek had Theo on the ground, a knee pressed to the man's throat. "What were you thinking of doing here?" Derek asked calmly.

Theo grinned up at him but didn't answer.

"Erica," Derek said.

"So I was right," Theo said and choked as Derek pressed down on his throat.

Erica disappeared and a moment later came back with a leather roll. She unlaced it next to Theo's head where he could see it.

Her instruments were well kept, shiny and sharp. Isaac stood and Lydia went to him. He turned her away so that she wouldn’t see what was about to take place. Boyd and Stiles knelt at Theo's legs and held them firmly.

"Teeth, fingernails, ears, or eyeball, Your Highness?" Erica asked politely. Her elegant fingers skipped over the instruments as she named them off.

Derek pouted and studied the instruments. He looked to Stiles after a moment and Stiles also considered the instruments.

"He's very pretty-" Stiles said.

"Thank you," Theo croaked.

"Why don't you start with his face?"

Malia joined them and grasped Theo's head firmly.

“I think we should start somewhere else,” Erica said thoughtfully. “The face is painful. If we start with perhaps his fingers, we could work our way up to the face, should he prove stubborn.”

“I defer to the expert,” Stiles said.

“In that case, I suggest we start with his feet,” Boyd said.

“Not a bad idea,” Derek said.

“I will need my mallet,” Erica said and stood.

“I like them like this,” Malia said as she stared down at Theo who smiled up at her. “They always think we are putting on a show for them, to scare them into the truth of telling us what we need to know.”

Theo’s smile faltered.

“Then they start screaming,” Malia said softly. She turned to Isaac. “Perhaps you should take the Lady somewhere else?”

“I believe I will,” Isaac said and turned him and Lydia away.

Erica returned, a small but weighty mallet in her hands. “Gentlemen, his shoes.”

Stiles was forced to sit on Theo’s shins as he and Boyd worked his boots off his feet.

“Tell me what I want to know and I will stop her before she begins. I’m not a harsh ruler, but I asked you politely and I only do that once,” Derek reasoned.

Theo bared his teeth at Derek. “You are not my ruler and I will not tell you anything.”

Derek looked to Erica and shrugged.

Isaac and Lydia had barely left the villa before the screams began.


	10. Chapter 10

Isaac kept the Laura, Cora, and Lydia out of the villa until Derek went to retrieve them. When he found them, Laura was leaning up against Isaac’s chest, asleep between his legs one hand on her round belly. Lydia was leaning against one of his shoulders and Cora was asleep on his other shoulder. Kira had said that she could help with the clean up and Isaac was too tired to try and argue with her.

Isaac had his eye on the burning ship in the sea, headed away from them.

“Did he tell you what he wanted?” Isaac asked.

“He was hired by another mercenary to come find us. Kill all but the royal family. Other than that, he had no more to say.”

“Is he dead?”

“Very much so. Erica made sure.”

“Good.”

Derek couldn’t help but agree.

*~*

Derek woke in the middle of the night several days later. Their easy rhythm had been interrupted but not lost. It had taken Laura a few nights to sleep peacefully but with Erica and Malia now asleep in the same bed as her, she slept without waking.

Derek did not.

He woke and prowled through the villa. Everyone was as they should be.

Everyone but Stiles.

Derek found him on the beach and he knew that Stiles could still see the burning ship on the horizon. It haunted Derek’s dreams too, far more often than he would like to admit.

Stiles wore only the loose knit pants that they had all taken too, but these were Derek’s favorite. They were dark blue and hung low on Stiles’s waist, cinched tight with a belt. He was without a shirt, but that was typical of their time here.

Derek approached and Stiles turned his head towards him. When he was close enough, Stiles swayed back to lean into him and Derek cherished the feeling of his warm skin against Derek’s own.

“What troubles you?” Derek whispered, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

Stiles reached for Derek’s hand and brought it to his lips. They were not affectionate in front of the others but neither had they lied about this. Nor were their friends stupid.

“I worry that our time here is slipping away. I worry that we haven’t taken the time to press our advantage here, together. I worry that when we return, you will disappear from me and all that I will have is our time on this island.”

“I think the same thing,” Derek said and leaned forward, pressed his lips to Stiles’s shoulder once more. “I worry that this is all we will have. I worry that the demands of my life will turn you against me. I worry that there will be some archaic rule that says that I cannot have what I want, no matter what is sacrificed on my behalf.”

Stiles stroked his knuckles and stared out to the sea and closed his eyes.

They were silent for a long moment.

“What shall we do?” Stiles asked.

“What do you want?” Derek whispered.

“I fear what I will say when you ask me that.” Stiles murmured.

Derek remained silent.

“Were you made to marry I would still want you, I would still wait for you. If I were nothing more than your secret, I would be grateful for it. I have known you but two years, Derek, and I fear that I am more in love with you than I thought I could be. That I would sacrifice all of myself if it meant a moment with you.”

Derek closed his eyes. “I need you by my side, always. I feel that if I were made to marry, I would intentionally sabotage my marriage, ruin my family’s name, lead the country to war, if it meant that I could feel you like this always. I fear what I would do for you, what it would lead me to do.”

Stiles was silent for another moment.

“Do you have another plan?” Derek asked.

“I don’t. You have taken over every part of me. I only think of you, your hands, your touch, and it is impossible to focus or even think of anything else. It has made me sloppy but I don’t regret. I don’t want this to change. This feeling, love or more, has taken hold of my soul and I can’t sleep for it.”

“You will think of something. I know you will. Laura said you were the cleverest of us all and she was right. You will rescue us from this. I trust you to do that.”

“What if your fear is misplaced?” Stiles asked.

“It’s not,” Derek said easily.

Stiles closed his eyes and let his head lean back on Derek’s shoulder. Derek let all his worries and thoughts leave his mind and only listened to the waves and Stiles’s steady breathing. After a moment, Derek felt water on his back and again on his cheek. He glanced up and realized for the first time that the stars were covered by clouds.

“It’s raining,” Stiles said.

“It is,” Derek said.

“We should go inside.”

“Not yet. I don’t want to leave here.”

Stiles remained still for a second and then stepped away from Derek, leaving him cold.

“A moment. Give me a moment and I will return,” Stiles said and turned for the villa before Derek could argue.

When he returned, he had a blanket over his arm and Derek waited for him to drape it over them or lay it on the sand. Instead he reached for Derek and pulled him behind the villa, into the dense forest. Derek didn’t ask where they were going and it began to rain in earnest. They were soaking wet within moments but Derek couldn’t complain. His heart was beating hard in his chest and he followed Stiles through the brush and when Stiles stopped at the small building where Laura and Cora and Kira hidden days before, there was a small smile on his face.

“I want as many nights with you as can I get,” Stiles said softly.

Derek reached around him and pushed the door open. He nudged Stiles into the building and followed after him. Stiles stumbled in and the reached for a candle by the door. Once lit, he left on a small table next to the door and turned to Derek.

The sun had been good for Stiles and his normally pale skin was now sun kissed. Derek discovered a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks and he traced them lightly with his fingers.

“When I first saw you in that sparring ring, I thought you a fool. I thought you wanted a place in the castle and that you were going to be killed by someone else and I would never know you. Even then, I knew you were remarkable and I knew that I must know you,” Derek said and pressed forward, kissed Stiles, and traced his hip bones there.

One kiss turned into two, and then three and Derek was pressing him into the small bed in the corner of the room. It was soft with furs from the merchant ship and Derek stepped away to grab the blanket that Stiles had grabbed for them. When he did, something fell to the ground with a hollow sound and it took Derek a moment to find it at his feet.

It was a small black pouch and Derek raised his eyebrow at Stiles.

“A man can hope,” Stiles said.

“A man can certainly have,” Derek said and shook the glass vial from the pouch and pressed it into Stiles’s hand before he swung his leg over the other side of Stiles so that he straddled him. He smiled down shyly at Stiles and placed a hand over his heart to feel it beating.

“I have thought of you for too long for this to be real. A wish fulfilled by some strange creature that asks for my soul in return,” Derek said.

“You dreamt of me, my Prince?” Stiles asked. The title curled lovingly around his tongue and it didn’t sound deferential. He sounded reverent.

“I did,” Derek said and raised Stiles’s hand to his mouth. He kissed his knuckles again. “I dreamt of your hands and your skin beneath my fingertips. I wanted to feel you all around me, I wanted you to call to me over and over again as I pleased you.”

“I am no strange creature who demands your soul. But if you would like to give me your heart and your mind, I would be more than happy to give you everything that I am.”

Derek leaned down and kissed him again.

“You don’t have to ask, they are already yours. I am yours. Whatever I have that I can give to you, whatever you want, all you have to do is ask.” Derek said against lips.

“I only want you,” Stiles said and Derek could feel him trembling beneath him. “I only want this, forever.”

Derek knew he couldn’t give him forever but he could give him now. He stripped them bare of their clothes and Stiles pressed the vial into his hand.

“Shall I-” Derek started.

“No, I want to. I want you to do this for me.”

There was no speaking after that. Derek poured some oil into his palm and grasped them both in his hand and stroked them until Stiles threw his head back and whimpered.

“I need you, I need you,” Stiles panted.

Derek kissed the words from his mouth. “You have but to ask.”

Stiles had done this only a sparse few times before and it was never like this. It never broke him open as Derek slid into him did. He never felt precious like this, treasured beyond all telling. No one whispered his name and told him how beautiful he was. No one held him as Derek did and pulled him close.

Derek wanted to take his time with Stiles, wanted to keep this memory of him tight and close, but it wasn’t possible. He had thought of it too much and to finally have him here, to kiss him as he wanted, to feel Stiles’s hands everywhere, he thought he would die from it. He reached down for Stiles’s cock and began to stroke him in earnest as he felt himself nearing the edge.

As he came, so did Stiles. He felt the marks in his back that Stiles drew but he reveled in it and only pushed himself in closer and kissed him and held him.

It took a moment for them both to return to their senses and when Derek blinked and looked down, he found Stiles staring up at him.

“You are beautiful and terrifying and I need you. You are like the sun and I cannot live without you. Not now, not ever,” Stiles whispered urgently.

“You will not, I swear it.”

*~*

Four days later, Laura went into labor.

*~*

Of them all, Laura and Lydia were perhaps the most calm.

Stiles woke up to Laura speaking in their common room and found his bed empty for the first time in four days. He sat up and looked around and slipped some pants on as he headed for the door.

In the common room, he came upon Laura and Derek standing in the middle of their chairs and couches. Laura had her head bowed, pressed into Derek’s chest. They swayed back and forth slowly, as though they were dancing. Laura grasped Derek’s biceps so hard that Stiles could see blood rise to the surface. Derek didn’t seem to notice and only rubbed Laura’s back as she breathed.

Stiles turned and went for Lydia.

She was awake and moving before Stiles could finish telling her what was going on.

“I need the linens that we kept. Wake Erica. I might need one of her knives. Quickly. Wake the others.”

Stiles had his orders and did as she asked. Boyd and Isaac were ordered to bring the softest blankets that they had and then to move the furniture out of the way. Every piece of furniture was pushed out of the way and Kira braided Laura’s hair.

“Where are Scott and Isaac?” Malia asked.

“Their turn to walk the perimeter,” Stiles said.

“I will go get them,” she said and left.

The pain became so great that Laura’s knees buckled and she had to sit.

Derek guided her over to where Boyd and Isaac had made a spot for her on the floor. As they had planned, Derek sat behind her and she leaned against him. Just then, Malia returned with Isaac and Scott.

“I think that when you tell someone that labor will be painful, we lack the appropriate language to properly explain,” Laura gasped and her head fell back against Derek’s chest. Sweat was dotting her forehead.

“What do you need us to do?” Boyd whispered to Derek.

“I have never given birth, Boyd, I am not the one to ask,” Derek hissed.

“Bring me light,” Lydia snapped.

Everyone jumped at her words and scrambled to find her more light. Soon their common room was bathed in the light of every single candle and lamp they had. Gently, Lydia guided Laura’s legs so that her feet were flat against the ground and her knees were bent.

“I need to see, okay?” Lydia said softly.

As one, every single guard moved back behind Derek.

Kira rolled her eyes and knelt next to Lydia, her arms filled with soft linen.

“What are you all doing?” Cora asked, sleepy from the hallway behind Lydia.

“Family- meeting-” Laura gasped.

“Why didn’t you wake me?!” Cora demanded, when she finally realized what was happening.

“Ask Stiles. Okay, Laura, this might be uncomfortable-” Lydia said and reached below Laura’s skirts. Laura gasped and gripped Derek’s hand so tightly her knuckles went white.

“Breathe,” Cora whispered and dropped to her knees next to Laura, crowded next to Derek. Laura nodded and sucked in a deep breath.

Stiles watched Kira and Lydia exchange a glance. Lydia nodded. Isaac clutched Stiles’s hand.

“Okay, Laura. The next contraction, I want you to push. I will count to ten and you need to push the entire time. Did you hear me?” Lydia asked.

Laura nodded. “Push.”

“Good.”

It was a second later that Stiles watched as Laura bore down. Derek held her up and she held his hands.

Lydia counted down.

When she reached ten, Laura dropped back into Derek’s chest and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes. Erica left and when she came back she had a damp wash cloth and pressed it into Stiles’s hand. Stiles knelt on the other side of Derek and wiped her forehead. Derek gave him a grateful glance and Lydia looked up and met Laura’s eyes.

“Get ready,” she muttered.

Once again, Laura began pushing. Derek held her up and this time he helped Lydia count.

Stiles found himself holding his breath until they reached ten. Laura fell back against Derek with more force this time. Stiles wiped her brow again and she seemed to register that he was there for the first time.

“You are doing amazing. Fantastic. I could never do this,” Stiles said.

Laura gave him a crooked, exhausted smile.

Stiles couldn’t tell you how long they were there. He lost track as Lydia and Derek counted, as he wiped Laura’s forehead and he and Cora took turns quietly encouraging her.

“Okay, the head is crowning,” Lydia murmured and she looked up at Laura. “One big push, one last big push and you will be done.”

Laura looked up at the ceiling and Stiles realized she was crying. “I’m tired, Lydia.”

“I know. I know you are, but one last push and I will do the rest,” Lydia said and rubbed Laura’s leg consolingly.

Laura nodded and Stiles wiped her face once more. She took a deep breath and braced herself. She gripped Derek’s hands and for the first time, she screamed.

“Good, you’re doing so good, okay,” Lydia whispered and Stiles watched as she guided the baby out gently and into the world.

The entire room went silent and still.

“Okay,” Lydia whispered again and Stiles couldn’t help but notice that the baby wasn’t moving and the cord was wrapped around the child’s neck. She held her hand out and Kira placed the small, sharp knife in her hand and she cut the umbilical cord. She unwrapped the cord swiftly and stood with the child in her hands. She went to the table and Kira went with her, matching her step for step.

The baby was blue, Stiles thought to himself.

“What’s wrong?” Laura asked.

Lydia said something to Kira and jerked her head back to Laura. Kira spread the blankets out on the dining table and Lydia laid the baby down. Kira returned to Laura and everyone watched her wide eyes.

“I need you to lay back,” Kira murmured and lifted her skirts. She grabbed towels and looked to the guards. “Crushed ice. Pack it in something absorbent. Now.”

As one, Boyd, Malia, Erica, and Isaac turned to the kitchen where they had kept ice on hand for the duration of Laura’s pregnancy.

“What’s wrong?” Laura asked and Derek helped her to lie back. “Derek, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, sister. It will be fine. You must breathe. Relax.” Derek said.

“Stiles!” Lydia snapped.

He was up and across the room, Scott right behind him.

The child’s body was still on the table and he was glad Scott was there, clutching his arm because he felt very light headed all of a sudden.

“Press here when I tell you,” Lydia said and put Stiles’s index and middle finger in the middle of the infant’s chest. She tilted the baby’s head back and opened their tiny mouth. She checked to see if there was anything in their mouth and pulled out some sort of substance that Stiles couldn’t identify.

“Go, thirty times, count out loud,” Lydia said.

Stiles began counting. When he hit thirty, Lydia leaned over and breathed gently twice into the child’s mouth.

Underneath his hand, Stiles felt a skip, then another, and then a beat. Followed by another. And another.

Then he began to cry.

“Oh, good, good, cry all you want baby,” Stiles whispered. “Cry some more, let them hear you.”

The baby wailed and Scott fell to the ground. Stiles had never heard a sweeter sound in all his life.

Then Erica was there with a warm wet towel to wipe the baby down and Lydia wrapped him up tightly before gingerly picking him up and looking up at Stiles. There was a smear of red on her cheek and she was pale and sweaty and she looked so tired.

“Here,” she said and gave the baby to Stiles, showing him to support the baby’s neck and head and Stiles walked over to Laura and Derek. Laura was laying down now, nestled in clean sheets, tears tracking down her cheeks. Stiles knelt and held him out to Laura.

“No, let Derek hold him,” she said.

Derek was looking from the baby to Laura to Stiles and back to Laura.

“Are you sure?” Derek said. His voice cracked. Stiles realized that he was crying too.

“I am. He’s yours Derek. I love him and he will always have a place in my heart but he is your son. Hold him,” she encouraged.

Stiles handed him over to Derek and Derek pulled the baby close to him. His cries trailed off and he turned his head towards Derek and yawned.

“I think I just fell in love,” Isaac remarked breathlessly.

Boyd nodded.

“Have you picked out a name?” Cora asked.

Derek nodded and traced the baby’s small bow mouth and tiny chin and shock of dark hair. “His name is Laurent.”


	11. Chapter 11

They were on a countdown now. They would return to the mainland three months from Laurent’s birth.

But those months were to be cherished.

Derek took to being a father with an ease like no one could have expected. For the first few weeks after Laurent stormed into their lives, Derek slept alone, getting up with his new son every few hours, feeding him sweetened goat’s milk, changing him, and curling himself around the child to sleep for a bit longer.

He didn’t sleep though, not really. He was too fascinated by his child, by his _son._ Derek was too fascinated by his bow lips, his tiny fingers, his tiny toes, his round little belly and those blue-gray-green Hale eyes. He didn’t sleep and his mind was clouded, but he had never been happier.

One afternoon, Derek sat on the beach, dozing, with Laurent in his arms. He had just had dinner with the others and now he wanted to watch the stars come out with his baby in his arms.

“So, I don’t want to sound presumptuous-” Stiles said as he sat down.

Derek turned to him and kissed him on the mouth. They hadn’t been together since before Laurent’s birth but it didn’t lessen Derek’s feelings for him any. If anything, the lack of sleep only made him see how much he had come to depend on Stiles and how strongly he felt. Stiles was often the first one for Derek to hand Laurent off to and he knew, more than the others, what Laurent needed.

“Maybe I do want to be presumptuous,” Stiles said as Derek pulled away and he kept his eyes closed and grinned.

“I wouldn’t be able to do this without you,” Derek said.

“Of course you would. You would just have to split up my job duties between all the others and still only get half the work done, but you could do it,” Stiles said and raised his hand to stroke Derek’s cheek before ducking down and kissing Laurent’s forehead.

“What were you saying?” Derek asked.

“I wanted to ask you something. And I want you to really think before you answer and consider all your options.”

“Okay.”

“Let me take Laurent for the night.”

Derek frowned automatically.

“Okay, wait, listen. Let me take him for the night so you can get a full night’s rest. You are almost mindless, Derek, and we need you present for the next part of the plan to be pulled off successfully. We still have much plotting to do and I need you awake for that,” Stiles explained.

Derek’s frown didn’t disappear.

“He will stay in my room, with me. He wakes every two hours to feed and to be changed. He prefers to sleep on your chest, over your heart because the rhythm soothes him. I am a light sleeper, lighter than you, I dare say. I am the most suited to give you a night’s rest.”

“You mean you were voted for this position because you are the only one who has a chance of me saying yes to,” Derek said.

“The others have noticed your slight bias towards me, yes.”

Derek sighed. A night’s sleep did sound nice.

“Just one night?”

“For now,” Stiles hedged.

Derek didn’t answer that but nodded. Stiles jumped to his feet and reached down for Laurent. Derek let him take the baby and stood up slowly. He realized, as he swayed on his feet, that he needed sleep a lot more than he knew. Stiles tucked Laurent into the crook of his arm and offered Derek the other one.

When they entered the villa everyone turned to them and the relief was clear on all their faces. Derek nodded at them and headed for Stiles’s room.

“Do you have his blanket?” Derek asked and looked around. “And a towel. Sometimes he spits up. I can ready his next feeding for you before I go to sleep? And his swaddling. Those are in my room as well.”

Stiles nodded behind Derek and Scott stood there, his next bottle ready, his swaddling in one arm, a change of clothes for Laurent and Laurent’s favorite blanket in his other. Cora had a stack of towels in her arms behind Scott.

“We will be fine, Derek. I promise you,” Stiles said and kissed Derek.

Scott blinked, still unused to their casual affection.

Derek left Stiles’s room and felt strangely bereft without either him or Laurent. He walked towards his room and turned in and blinked at Malia standing there, readying herself for bed.

“One more room to the left,” Malia said and Derek realized that it wasn’t the first time he had done that and remembered last week when he and Laurent had slept in her bed only to wake up to a very confused Scott and Lydia standing over them.

Derek wandered over to his bed and as he laid himself down, he wondered how he had slept alone so easily. After a few moments of tossing and turning, Derek sighed and sat up. He walked down the hall and knocked at Lydia’s door.

“Come in!” She called out.

Derek stared abjectly at the closed door across from Lydia, Stiles’s room, and entered Lydia’s room.

She was sitting up in bed, a book in hand, Jackson’s arms curled around her waist, fast asleep.

“Hey,” Lydia greeted him warmly.

“I am very tired,” Derek confessed for the first time.

“You should sleep.”

“I can’t.”

Lydia smirked and nodded. She tapped Jackson’s arm and he rolled away from her and mumbled something about cake.

She went to a box that held all the medical things she had collected over the past months and poured a small glass of wine. She pulled out a small glass vial and measured out two drops into the glass and handed it to him. Derek drank it and handed her the glass.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.

Derek barely remembered making it back to his bed.

*~*

Stiles didn’t know how Derek took care of Laurent throughout the night. Halfway through, Laura came into his room and changed Laurent while Stiles made his next bottle. When he woke again two hours later, Stiles discovered that he hadn’t swaddled him correctly and he now had to change his own clothes. Cora came in and fed Laurent while Stiles cleaned himself.

“You’re lucky you are the cutest baby on this planet,” Stiles informed Laurent as he fed him and the sun rose over the horizon. They were on the porch so that Stiles could drink his coffee while Laurent enjoyed his own feeding. “It’s those Hale good looks.” Stiles nodded to himself.

Laurent’s eyes began to drift close and Stiles was thankful for his training. It was the only thing that prepared him for that night.

Derek had slept through Laurent’s crying though, so that was what mattered. He had been making silly mistakes and Stiles worried what Derek’s stubborn refusal of the other’s offers to help were going to make him do something especially worrisome.

Laurent finished and Stiles shifted him up to his chest and burped him and then watched as Laurent’s eyes began to drift shut. Stiles made his way down to the beach and laid down, Laurent on his chest. As the sun began to rise, they fell asleep there on the beach.

*~*

Stiles woke up to someone gently nudging his arm over and trying to pick Laurent up. His grip tightened around Laurent, supported his head and rolled away and he pulled out a knife as he did.

Jackson froze.

Malia laughed behind him. “I told you,” she said.

Stiles relaxed and dropped the knife. “Jackson. I could have killed you.”

“I saw that,” Jackson said and held his arms out. Stiles handed Laurent over. Jackson started for the house and Stiles turned with him and tripped over his own feet. Malia steadied him.

“He needs a lot more sleep than he’s been getting,” Stiles said.

“I think you need a nap as well.”

Stiles nodded stupidly and they went into the villa. Laurent was in Lydia’s arms, waving tiny fists at her as she told him a story of ancient gods and myths.

He stood there in the doorway and watched his family and then he felt a hand on his shoulder. Cora stood next to him and she smiled. “Thank you for this.”

“I really didn’t even do that much work.”

“You did and your work isn’t done yet. Mother and father were informed that Laurent has arrived and though they are quite furious with Derek, they would like to see their grandchild as soon as possible,” Cora said.

“When?” Stiles asked.

“As soon as Lydia thinks he can stand the trip, Jackson will send for his ship.”

Stiles nodded. He could feel it all falling away suddenly. Their family, their warm nights, the easy friendship and family they had all built. He wouldn’t see Scott and Jackson as often, not once they returned. He wouldn’t be able to talk to Laura and Cora as easily as he was used to.

Stiles did not think of how his and Derek’s relationship would change. He refused to. Cora leaned into Stiles and wrapped her arms around his waist. She leaned into him and he had to wonder what it was like growing up as a royal without being allowed this kind of affection unless it was all but scheduled into their daily lives.

“I want you to know that all you have done for Laura and Derek, I would do in turn for you. As long as there is a Hale on the throne, you will have your place with us.”

Stiles tried not to read too deeply into her words. Nonetheless it felt like his grip on this world was slipping away and he would soon be forced into a reality he did not want.


	12. Chapter 12

Laurent was three months old and Lydia could no longer find an excuse to keep off their return. It was one night that she pressed her lips together as they all sat around the bonfire and looked around. It had been the first time in a very long time she did not have a letter in her hands.

“It’s time,” she said softly.

Everyone looked to Derek who was cradling a sleeping Laurent in his arms. He did not want to leave. He did not want to leave more than he did not want anything in all his life. He did not voice that concern however. Instead he nodded and looked out at the dark horizon and the stars that hung over them and nodded.

“I suppose it is.”

Jackson sent for his ship the next day and it when it arrived five days after that, it was loaded with every single luxury and servants for all of them. It was overwhelming to say the least and Stiles considered diving overboard and swimming back for the island.

“If this is how it is now, how will it be when we get back to our regular duties?” Isaac asked only hours before they reached the mainland as a servant buckled him into his uniform and another attempted to tame his curls.

“I haven’t a clue,” Stiles said as he was jerked around by another servant who straightened his collar.

“There is to be a parade,” Heather informed them. She had been sent by Talia herself and Stiles groaned. Heather nodded sympathetically. “If it should help any, Lady McCall and Constable Stalinski are waiting for you at the castle.”

It did help a little. Very little.

“And the Yukimura family?” Malia asked as she was helped into a boot. It took a lot of shoving on both her and the servants part, but it eventually fit. “How do they fare?”

“They were angry, initially. It seemed like they were humiliated that they sent their daughter on what they thought to be a very romantic time away only for His Highness to do what had been done, but when Princess Kira praised the young woman, when she talked so highly of her, and how saddened she was by the young lady’s death, their hearts were softened. I don’t think that Prince Derek will ever be one of their favorite people though,” Heather replied.

Stiles sighed. It was a risk they were willing to take and Kira had reassured them all that she would do everything within her power to persuade her parents against anything that might be politically motivated.

From across the cabin, there was a shout and something crashed and Laurent began to squall.

“What was that?” Stiles said, reaching for his sword.

Heather did not look alarmed but instead raised her head to the ceiling of their cabin.

“What?” Boyd asked slowly and turned away from the door. It was quiet and they could only hear Laurent now.

“There is another thing,” Heather said and bowed her head. She shuffled her feet and sighed. Whatever this other thing was, she did not want to be the one to bear the news.

“What?” Erica said, now irritated.

“The Argents have approached. They wait with the King and Queen at the castle.”

*~*

Stiles wondered if he lost consciousness between the time that Heather informed him that the Argents were at the castle and when they approached the gates.

He remembered Derek’s furious face. He knew that Laura and Cora both looked ill at ease. Word had reached even their tiny island that Lady Kate was still looking to wed Derek. Now with Kira supposedly humiliated, if the King and Queen pushed for it, it was more likely to happen than ever before.

Instead of saving Derek, it seemed like Stiles had condemned him.

Laurent was whimpering in his stiff and unyielding clothes as Derek held him in one arm and the reins of his horse in the other. As they were paraded through the streets, people screamed and yelled and cheered.

Stiles couldn’t help but notice that there was a fair amount of soldiers wearing the silver and cream of the Argent family.

Stiles knew that Derek was as sick as he felt. But his face was a mask of grim determination and he never took his eyes off the road in front of him, save for when they approached the gate. He looked to Stiles just then and there was a clear look of panic on his face.

“I will not leave your side, Your Highness,” Stiles said to him. In a lower voice he whispered, “I am here, Derek. For whatever may come, you cannot lose me.”

Derek didn’t reply, nor did he relax but he did face forward again.

At the top of the stairs, King Joseph and Queen Talia waited. Behind them and next to them was Gerard and Kate.

For a brief moment Stiles remembered a girl, his age, and her father. It seemed like they also belonged to the Argent family but it was a whisper of a whisper, there and gone, more rumor than reality.

Muscle memory kicked in and as Derek descended from his horse, so did his guard. Laura and Cora were helped out of their carriage by their own guard but Stiles had no mind for anyone but Derek at that moment.

The Crown Prince approached his parents steadily, never taking his eyes off of them. He didn’t look over at the Argents and did not acknowledge them.

“Mother. Father,” Derek said and bowed.

His guard did the same.

“I would like to present to you my son. Prince Laurent,” Derek said. He was loud enough for those around them to hear and Stiles heard the name repeated over and over throughout the crowd. It would be said throughout the kingdom, come what may.

Though they were still, Stiles was close enough to see that they softened at the sight of their first grandchild.

“We must speak at once,” King Joseph said.

“Wave to the people and be polite,” Queen Talia reminded Derek.

Derek did as he was asked and they were escorted into the castle.

The sickening feeling in Stiles’s stomach built when they were taken into a large room and Kate and Gerard were ushered in after them. Stiles noticed that among their guards, Ennis and Kali were present. They sneered at Stiles but Stiles barely registered it, far too focused on the events that were quickly unfolding around them.

“Give Laurent to the nanny. She will take him and we can speak,” King Joseph said dismissively.

“He will not go,” Derek said and he saw Derek’s hand come protectively up and around the child.

“Let him go with her Derek, it is her job,” King Joseph snapped.

The woman stepped up to Derek and Derek gave her a dry look and handed his son over.

Laurent screamed.

Laurent had screamed for most of the time on the ship and whimpered the entire time it took for them to get to the castle. Laurent did not like people he was familiar with and he made his opinions perfectly clear. He was much like Derek in that manner.

The woman looked so startled she almost dropped him.

Derek took Laurent from her arms and Erica pushed her away, quite roughly. “Excellent at her job, I can see,” Isaac snapped and stepped between the woman and Laurent, making her step back further.

Once back in Derek’s arms, Laurent quieted.

“You cannot rule a country with a child in your arms,” King Joseph said scornfully.

“Boyd,” Derek said softly.

Boyd stepped up and took Laurent from Derek and the child remained quiet.

Derek looked sick when he said, “Take Laurent to my rooms. Isaac, Erica, go with him. Malia, you and Stiles will remain with me.”

Cora and Laura, who had also arrived in the room, made to leave with the others but Talia stopped them. “You two shall stay here with your brother.”

Boyd led the others out and the silence was complete in the room. After a long moment, Talia cleared her throat.

“Princess Kira will remain here for a few days until she is ready to travel. During which time she will be escorted by a guard of our own. Her parents wait for her in her own country. Unless, Derek, you think you can convince her to marry you despite your rash decisions.”

“Kira has no desire to marry me,” Derek said.

“Very well,” Talia said and nodded to one of the servants. They left and closed the door behind themselves.

“Then our decision is this,” Talia went on and Stiles felt like he might vomit on her beautiful dress. “You will be wed to Lady Kate within a fortnight. She has agreed to take the child as her own as long as the first child she has will be the one to reign-”

“No.” Derek interrupted.

Talia stopped and her eyes narrowed on her son. “As Crown Prince, you have an obligation to your country.”

“As my mother, you have an obligation to me,” Derek countered and sneered at Kate who was still eyeing him. “I will not marry her. You have your heir, be satisfied with that.”

“I am not satisfied with the son of a peasant from a village whose name I cannot even pronounce,” Talia said.

“Then keep your throne and your crown and your wealth,” Derek replied. “You wish to wed me to a murderer to keep your name clean. You wish to wed me to a woman whose filth rivals any mercenary who kills for hire but she does it for pleasure.”

Gerard stepped forward and pointed a finger at Derek. “You watch your mouth. We are doing you a favor by offering you-”

“Take your finger out of his face or I will snap it off,” Malia said.

“Get out,” Talia ordered Malia.

Malia looked to Derek.

Derek shook his head.

“Give me the crown right now, as it is, give me the country and the court and I will take it off your hands,” Derek said. “But Laurent will be the one on the throne and Kate can escape to whatever hell hole she crawled out of. If you do not, I will abdicate and leave.”

Joseph stood up. “Leave.”

Derek looked up at his father and for an unfathomable second, he looked like a small child, pleading with his father.

Then the mask of a man hardened by life came down and his eyes went cool and flat. He nodded and turned.

“If you do this, I will also abdicate,” Laura said coolly.

“As will I,” Cora said.

“Your country will be in ruins and it will be only your own making,” Laura said.

It was a last ditch effort but Stiles could see that both of them meant it. If Derek left, they would follow him.

The throne room was silent. No one dared to move, not even Derek, who had his back to his parents.

“Derek, don’t do this,” Kate pleaded.

Stiles went strangely still as he watched her come around her father and step toward Derek.

Both Malia and Stiles intercepted her.

“Please, Derek. You know me. We can make this right. Laurent-” Kate’s eyes met Stiles’s and he saw something, a bright plan being born in her eyes and Stiles knew that everything was going to come crashing down on them in only moments.

Kate spun and in a voice choked with tears she said, “Please. Don’t do this. Laurent, he is mine. I gave birth to him.”


	13. Chapter 13

Stiles wondered if Derek could rescue him before he was put to death for killing her.

“There was no island girl. I met them there and Derek and I, we -” Kate sniffed and wiped at her face. “They did it to save my honor. I helped Lady Lydia write those letters and we sent them to plant the idea that perhaps-” Kate shook her head and her eyes were wide and pleading. “They didn’t want my reputation to suffer.”

“You liar,” Malia hissed.

“Malia, there is no reason to keep up this charade,” Kate said gently. “Let it go. If this is what can keep Derek and I together, I don’t give a damn about my reputation.”

“No,” Derek said and he sounded hysterical. He laughed a little. He shook his head and repeated, “No.”

“Gerard?” King Joseph asked.

“She was gone for most of the time that they were. She only arrived back weeks ago. It is possible- I suppose the time would be enough-” Gerard stumbled. He had caught on to his daughter’s lie and was helping her now.

Stiles looked to Derek and Derek stared back at him. His eyes were wide. If they told the truth then it was possible that Laura could still be punished and sent away and Derek could not abide by that, Stiles knew. And if Laura could not be sacrificed, then their relationship would be. It was possible that the King and Queen could even refuse to recognize Laurent as Derek’s heir and they would be right back to where they started.

Stiles knew that. He knew it deep in his heart.

He was honor bound to the family and would not bring a single member down.

Behind Stiles, the conversation continued but all he registered was the way that Derek was looking at him.

“I love you,” Derek said plainly, in an even tone, saying it like he had said it a thousand times before, even though this was the first time he had said it. He presented it as fact, the sun rises, the ocean is vast, I love you.

The room turned to him and Stiles knew they expected Derek to be looking at Kate but she was on his other side, closer to Malia.

Derek was clearly looking at Stiles.

“I love you,” Stiles said dumbly and nodded.

“What did you say?” Kate screeched.

Everyone twitched, as though they had forgotten she was there.

“This is who you spent your nights with, away from me? While I nursed our son? While I held him and took care of him, he was who you were with?” She demanded, keeping up her lies.

“I have had enough!” Laura shouted and stepped up.

Immediately, Derek stepped up beside her and tried to haul her away from their parents. He got so far as lifting her around her waist to his shoulder, perhaps to get her out of the room, but he couldn’t quiet her.

“I gave birth to Laurent!” She screamed.

The guards, the scribes, the Argents, and the King and Queen looked as though they had been slapped. Talia sat down, as did two of her servants behind her.

“With- Derek?” Talia asked, looking sick.

“Put me down, you ass!” Laura yelled and hit Derek.

Derek did as she asked, set her down on her feet and she straightened her skirts before looking at her parents. She looked like an avenging angel, sent down from the heavens themselves to wreak havoc on the family before her.

“I will speak but I need those that were on the island here. And Constable Stilinski. And Lady McCall.”

The others were called and as they were all led into the room, they all had the same air of guilt. Jackson, Lydia, and Scott looked like they were kicked dogs, tails between their legs.

The tension in the room was so thick, Stiles felt like he was moving through tar.

When they were all gathered, Laura cleared her throat. “I gave birth to Laurent. No, the man who helped to create him was not Derek but Derek is his father for all intents and purposes. Laurent came on the spring solstice. I was in labor for seven hours. Lady Lydia helped me and when Laurent was born with the cord around his neck, Lady Lydia and Sir Stilinski brought him back to life.”

Talia and Joseph glanced at each other and between the two of them it seemed like they couldn’t decide on which question to ask first.

“I went to Sir Stilinski. I asked for his help. The moment I knew I was with a child, I knew that child belonged to Derek. I have no need of an immediate heir and though I love that child with all my heart and soul he is Derek’s son and future heir to this kingdom. You, Mother and Father, can have your heir of royal blood. We have witnesses who, under pain of death, will swear to it.” Laura finished.

“Yes, friends of yours who can be bribed,” Gerard pointed out.

“I was the one to inform her of her pregnancy,” Lady McCall said.

“I was the one to help them think of getting to the island. There were no ships sent, other than the mercenaries sent by the Argents,” Constable Stilinski added.

Both members of the court and the country that were beyond reproach, Gerard had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

“Why did you not come to me?” Talia asked.

“Look at how you have treated Derek. How could I trust you to be gentle with me when I needed it?” Laura asked plainly.

“Derek was the future king-” Joseph said.

“Is. Is the future king,” Cora corrected. “We will all abdicate should you force him to leave or marry this wretched demon you allowed into our home.”

“Why are you all lying?” Kate asked, looking around like everyone around them was crazed and not her.

“And-” Talia cleared her throat. “And Sir Stilinski?”

“I love him,” Derek repeated. “And if you make me marry someone else, if you harm him, if you do anything to him, I will make you regret it.”

“When?” Talia asked. Her eyes were wild, like she couldn’t understand the events that had just been told to her.

“I think since I first saw him, perhaps. It is hard to say.”

Stiles blinked and he caught sight of his father looking at him, looking happy, sad, frustrated, and pleased at all once. Until his face dawned with horror and Stiles followed his gaze and was diving for Derek before he could think of it.

Kate had hidden a knife in the folds of her dress and when it sank in that she truly would not sit on the throne, Stiles figured that she might as well take Derek with her.

Derek hit the floor hard when Stiles crashed into him and chaos erupted around them. Guards were pulling Talia and Joseph away and Malia was fighting Gerard which would have been hysterically funny but for the circumstances.

The other guards were gone and when Stiles looked down, he saw a knife sticking out of his side.

*~*

The first hint of trouble was the fact that Laura and Cora’s guards were nowhere to be found. Perhaps they had been rotated and now they were relying on Derek’s guard until new guards came in for the princesses.

Unusual but not unheard of.

Boyd put Laurent against his shoulder and rubbed his back. His best friend’s son, but felt like his own.

In Derek’s wing, there were no servants readying their rooms. It was empty.

“I don’t like this,” Isaac said, the first thing anyone had said since they arrived.

“Nor I,” Boyd admitted. They started to Derek’s room but paused. As one, they went instead to Malia’s room and locked the door behind them. The sheets on her bed were fresh so Boyd laid Laurent down there.

The first explosion rocked the castle. Isaac started towards the door.

“No-” Erica said and reached for his arm.

“Derek is out there!” Isaac said.

“With Stiles and Malia. He will be fine, we have our orders,” Erica said.

Isaac looked unhappy about it but nodded anyway.

*~*

Stiles saw the Argent guards burst through the door and Cora and Laura, unguarded and left alone, pulled each other away. Malia continued to fight Gerard.

Derek went to his sisters.

“Take the Prince, do what you want with his sisters,” Kate said casually and leaned over to Stiles. She grasped the knife in his side. “I will take this,” she said and wrapped her hand around the hilt.

Instead of pulling, a vase smashed around her head and she stumbled, tripped over Stiles, and landed on her knees.

Lydia was standing over Stiles and Scott and Jackson were hauling Stiles to his feet. They jostled the knife and he screamed.

“The Prince!” Kate ordered and three guards advanced on Derek. It took another two to subdue him.

“Now, his child. Or her child, it doesn’t matter,” Kate said as the guards held Derek down and the others cornered Cora and Laura.

“Kate,” Gerard said from his corner of the room.

Malia had a knife to his throat.

Kate studied the situation and pulled a dagger from one of her guards. She strode over to her father and stabbed him.

“This has been an especially trying day,” Jackson whispered as Gerard’s body fell to the floor.

*~*

The Argent guards rushed for the Prince’s wing. There were more than enough to kill the three that guarded the child and they all knew that if the child did not make it back alive, Kate would be all the more pleased for it.

The halls were empty and they figured that the servants had heard the chaos and deserted the castle. Most were probably dead, caught in the crossfire outside.

The guard who led them first stumbled and then fell.

There was a crossbow bolt through his eyeball.

It took a moment for it to register and in that time, three more guards fell. The others dove for cover.

“Come,” the spy whispered to Princess Kira. “We have to get to the child.”

Kira nodded and they both pulled their hoods up and swept upstairs, towards Derek’s room.

*~*

“Marry me and I won’t kill your sisters,” Kate said casually.

“Please kill us before you make her diseased mind any part of our family,” Cora requested politely. She looked every inch the polite princess, dressed in her silver skirts and hair wrapped expertly around her tiara. Her hands were folded across her lower belly like the thought of Kate marrying Derek made her ill.

She wasn’t the only one.

Although Stiles was fairly sure the nausea was at least partly from the blood loss.

“My jacket is ruined,” he moaned.

Scott looked at him as though he had lost his mind. Melissa pressed his father’s jacket to the wound to staunch the bleeding.

“My son?” Derek asked.

“He will be raised as mine,” Kate said and there was lie that even Stiles could see.

She would kill the child the first chance she got.

“And Stiles?” Derek asked and looked over at him.

“I will kill him quickly,” Kate said.

Another lie. Stiles saw his life stretch out before him in dungeons, being tortured until he finally died under her claws.

“And us?” Cora asked and stepped forward.

Kate was taller, older, wider. She looked down at Cora as though she were a child who simply could not grasp a particularly easy arithmetic problem.

“You will be bargaining chips,” Kate said.

“My parents?” Cora said.

“Will meet with horrible accidents. Cannot be avoided, I am sorry to say.”

“All this for the throne? For a crown?” Cora pressed.

One of the guards reached for Cora but Kate smirked and waved him away. Cora was tiny, hardly anything to be reckoned with, barely more than a child.

“For power, little one. But I understand that you are too stupid to get that.”

Cora flinched at her words and looked away. “I supposed you might say that. As third in line to the throne, power was not something that I wanted.”

A guard came in, splashed with blood. He was wiping his face under his hood. “It is done,” he announced.

He had been one of the guards to escort the King and Queen out.

*~*

Kira and her old friend followed the worn steps up and up until they got to Derek’s wing. The soldiers were just behind them.

“How many bolts do you have?” The spy asked.

“Only four. You?”

“Three.”

There were at least double that amount of guards following them. They sighed and pressed on to Derek’s door.

Once there it swung open under Kira’s hand. She exchanged a look with the spy and they both backed out, opening each door until they found one latched and closed.

Another explosion rocked the castle.

Kira knocked, politely. “Boyd? It’s Princess Kira.”

The door was unbolted and Erica peered out, saw Kira. She opened it and as she did, the guards rounded the corner. Kira and the spy pushed their way in and slammed the door behind them. They bolted it and stepped away as the guards outside began ramming it.

“Hey, Kira, who’s your friend?” Isaac asked as the three guards formed a line in front of the bed where Laurent was laying.

“Hi, Isaac! This is Allison Argent,” Kira said warmly.

Immediately, all three guards pulled their swords and rounded on Kira and Allison.

“We trusted you!” Erica snapped.

“And you brought her here? With Laurent?” Boyd demanded.

“Kate imprisoned her niece and brother three years ago when they wouldn’t agree to her scheme to marry Derek. My parents were only recently able to break them out. It was part of the reason we traveled here, to free them. As soon as Allison and her father were free, they raced here to warn the King and Queen but Gerard and Kate were already here.” Kira said and pushed Isaac’s blade down. She studied all three of them. “You are my family and I love Laurent like he were the nephew I can never have. I will die for him and Derek like any of you. Allison is the only reason I am still alive. The guards were at my door when she found me.”

“You are the only reason I made it this far,” Allison said softly to her friend.

“We grew up together. Our fathers were friends. We learned to fight together,” Kira explained. “She has more reason to hate Kate than any of you.”

“Then where is your father?” Isaac asked.

“With the King and Queen,” Allison replied and grinned.

*~*

“You traitor, you coward!” Laura screamed. Her eyes were filled with tears. “You will burn for this you wretched-”

“That is not how you should speak to your future queen,” Kate said and turned to face Laura.

The guard who had announced the King and Queen’s death quickly crossed the room and pulled out his sword. It seemed inevitable that the two sisters would die on this day.

“No!” Stiles screamed. He struggled weakly but there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t even stand without Scott and Jackson’s help. Derek and Malia thrashed against the guards that held them but they were also unmoved.

Then the guard slammed his sword into Kate’s back and twisted it. He grimaced as he pulled it out and even as he did, she reached out to Cora who pulled a small dagger from her skirts and stabbed her in the face.

Kate fell and the guard stood over her.

“I told you, sister. You will pay in blood for everything you did.” The man said.


	14. Chapter 14

Despite the restrictions, there were certain perks that came with being the Crown Prince of the reigning country.

For one, Derek was able to ignore orders from the guards that let the potential usurpers in concerning Allison and Chris Argent. For another, he was able to beg Lady McCall to let Stiles stay in his room. He ordered that Constable Stilinski stay in Stiles’s usual rooms once Stiles was let out Melissa’s watchful eye. Another perk.

After intense questioning both Chris and Allison Argent were freed and cleared of any fault that the rest of their family had participated in. However, as they readied for home, they received word that the villagers surrounding their former home had burned it to the ground.

Neither Chris nor Allison faulted them, Gerard and Kate had treated those people terribly, but now they were without a home.

“Stay,” Laura offered Allison.

Allison and Chris agreed.

While Joseph and Talia had been physically unharmed by the assassins sent after them, as Chris Argent has saved their lives, a lot of things weighed heavily on them.

A week after the attempted takeover, Joseph suffered a heart attack. Once recovered, he handed the throne over to Derek. Talia agreed and also stepped down.

Derek found himself in a place of such power and authority that he was, for the first time, very unsure of himself. His sisters shored up his doubts, swept in when they felt him hesitating, and acted as a buffer between him and the gossips of the court.

His guard remained the same, though he was disliking the fact that he was short one guard as Stiles recovered. Erica and Isaac stepped forward with a thought on the subject, if only for the time that Stiles spent recovering. Allison was brought on to take Stiles’s place for the time being. Erica and Isaac could not say enough about her savagery when it came to fighting. Erica got a little teary eyed when she remembered Allison killing the guards that came for Laurent.

A month after the attempted takeover, when Derek was signing decrees and waiting for his next meeting to begin, Joseph joined him in the study. He sat on an overstuffed couch and Derek sat at the large desk they kept reserved for state work.

“I remember when you used to hide from your sisters under there so you could read,” Joseph said and gestured to the desk.

Derek smiled. He remembered those days as well. His father would deny seeing Derek and Derek would doze off under his father’s desk.

“Tell me, son, what are your plans?” Joseph asked and settled down deeper into the overstuffed chair he favored. It was dark blue and his father was pale and the dark color did him no favors. He was no longer the broad shouldered man that Derek remembered; instead there were bags under his eyes and his face sallow and gaunt. He wore his glasses almost all the time now and needed help getting dressed. Derek felt a stab of sorrow when he realized that his father had gotten old when he wasn’t looking.

“What do you mean?” Derek asked and gestured to the desk. “I have plenty of plans.”

Joseph was silent and he looked out at the view over Derek’s shoulder. “I confess, I have not been a good father.”

“Yes you have,” Derek said automatically.

“No, I haven’t. I should have done better by you. I shouldn’t have molded your life after my own. I shouldn’t have favored the girls because they were easier. No one challenged me and how I saw the world, save for you, Derek. I should have seen it for the gift that it is.”

Derek’s fingertips went numb. He was holding a pen and he saw it, but he couldn’t feel it. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. It was what he had waited to hear through the fights with his father but now that he was here and he was saying the words, Derek realized he didn’t need it. He no longer needed Joseph’s approval. But he still loved him and it hurt Derek to think that his father had failed him somehow.

“The girls did as I asked, always. But you made me pause and think and truly consider. Whoever gave me you knew that I needed you but I must confess, I didn’t always deserve you. And I apologize.”

Joseph looked down and Derek felt his eyes grow wet. It was the confession of a long life, one that Joseph felt he hadn’t done right by.

“You were the father I needed. If it were not for you, I would have never had the nerve to stand up to the king of my country and tell him no. I would have never learned that from anyone else. No one else would have shown me how to do all of this,” Derek gestured around him, “Without losing my mind. I owe that to you.”

“I wanted to teach you how to love. I thought that I taught you wrong, I thought that was why you preferred men over women-”

“That is a part of me that I was born with, like these eyes and this hair and your terrible eyesight. I love the way I love because that’s the way I love. It would be easier to discern why the sky is blue or why fire burns. I love him because I love him,” Derek said in a rush.

Joseph was crying and nodding. “I know, son. I know. I just hope he is good enough for you.”

Derek laughed and wiped his face and stood. He helped his father stand and hugged him. It made him cry harder when he felt how fragile his father had become in his arms. He never wanted the day to come when he was stronger than his father, when he held his father up.

But it was here.

“He is the best of us all, father. You should spend some time with him. Even Laurent is in love with him.”

*~*

As the castle was being re-built and Stiles recovered and the country learned to realign itself, a coronation was planned. The dark circles made a reappearance under Derek’s eyes and Stiles worked very hard to make them go away. He was still healing but there were days Derek was gone, Laurent was with his aunts, and Stiles was able to rest. On those days he was faced with long nights when he would sit with Laurent and otherwise read.

At night, when Derek snored softly in their bed, Stiles would read through the paperwork that piled upon Derek and made notes for Derek, pointed out flaws, and corrected any kind of issues he saw. Derek was grateful the first time he saw it and kissed Stiles until he was dizzy from it.

Stiles got stronger day by day and he waited for Derek to offer him his former position back in the guard.

Instead, he found himself with Laurent in the gardens more and more, he found councilmen, dukes, ladies, lords, and foreign dignitaries seeking him out for his thoughts and favor on certain proposals. Stiles would eye Derek at night for sending him these people but he dealt with them, if only for having more time with Derek and Laurent that night.

Stiles was reading through some more state papers that Derek had asked him to look through (“Only if you are rested and feel up to it, if not, please don’t. I need you strong.”), when Cora found him on his favorite chair in the gardens. Erica had gotten the easy job of guarding Stiles that day and she was sitting across from him, reading a book that Allison had recommended. The rest of the guard was with Derek.

Allison was training a lot with the guard these days. Stiles had thoughts on that but he remained quiet unless Jackson and Scott came to see him. Then he would talk so much that Jackson would have to hold up a hand so that the two of them could process all that had been said.

Kira had yet to leave. She said that Lady McCall had so much to teach her and they had so much knowledge to trade that it would be a shame to pass up this opportunity.

The truth was, no one wanted her to leave.

Cora marched up to Stiles, Laurent in one arm, her guard hurrying after them. Liam was panting.

“Stiles,” Cora said.

“Yes, Your Grace?” Stiles said lazily.

“Your- ugh- Derek’s son has been asking for you. We have searched high and low for you and he has become distraught,” Cora said.

Laurent grinned at Stiles and Stiles felt his heart swell at the sight of four little teeth and gray-green-blue eyes and chubby hands reaching for him. He was not distraught at all, but Cora liked to exaggerate.

“I can see that he is inconsolable,” Stiles said and reached up for him. His side twinged and he felt the ghost of the knife in his side. Laurent was a welcome weight and as he judged the time by the sun, he knew that the baby would be asleep in only few moments.

“Obviously,” Cora said and passed the child off to Stiles. “The Satomi family is set to arrive in a few hours. Will you be joining us?”

“Ask your king if he plans on parading me or hiding me this time,” Stiles said, pretending to sound resentful.

“Well, Deucalion had heard about you and was uncomfortably interested in you,” Cora said and frowned at the memory of the man asking for Stiles and Laurent more than once. “And Laurent.”

“Hm,” Stiles said and frowned.

Erica frowned as well. She had been at the dinner and Allison, Boyd, and Isaac were sent to guard Stiles and Laurent’s room, with Kira inside to keep them company. Derek did not like Deucalion and trusted him even less. Derek’s fears were not unfounded when two twins from Deucalion’s group had tried the door and been confronted by Allison and Boyd, a pair that even Stiles feared.

“Do you know if you will be there, honestly?” Cora asked.

“Derek hasn’t said one way or the other and since I am living the life of a kept man, I go by his word,” Stiles said and Laurent leaned into Stiles’s chest and Erica arranged an umbrella over them.

“You are living the life of the king’s consort, we only wait the word for it to be official,” Cora said and squeezed his hand before she left. Liam waved at Stiles as he followed the princess away.

“Consort?” Stiles asked Erica.

“I do not know what the princess speaks of. I am only a guard and I know nothing of anything.”

“Liar,” Stiles muttered and settled in with Laurent who had one hand over Stiles’s heart. He snuggled him and a sweet wind picked up and he was asleep before he knew it.

When Stiles woke, he had a hand pressed against his cheek and the world was fuzzy around him.

“Darling, wake up now,” a voice said patiently.

Laurent smacked his lips and the world was golden and soft around the edges.

“Mom?” Stiles muttered and blinked.

When he did, he saw that it was the Queen Mother in front of him, not his own. She smiled at him patiently as he pulled himself awake.

“I beg your pardon, ma’am,” Stiles said and struggled to sit up.

Talia waved him back down and Erica brought her own seat over next to Stiles and Laurent so that Talia could sit.

“Where is Derek?” Talia asked.

Stiles looked up at the sun and frowned for a second. “He should be meeting with the leaders from the southern villages to work out a trade with the northern villages.”

“What do they wish to trade?”

“Fabric for fruits and grains,” Stiles said. “It seemed fair.”

Talia nodded and Laurent lifted his head and saw his grandmother and gave her a grin before falling back down on Stiles’s chest.

“He is taken with you,” Talia said.

“I am very taken with him and his father,” Stiles said.

Talia smiled and she stroked Laurent’s cheek. “Derek was like this. He wished to be held, demanded it, constantly was seeking attention from Joseph and I. We didn’t always have it in ourselves to give it to him, being young and in charge of the country so early.”

“Derek loves you, dearly.”

Talia nodded but her eyes clouded over. “He loves you- loved you, for a very long time but never came to us. If he loved us, doesn’t that imply a measure of safety to be found with us?”

Stiles felt like this question was too big for him and he stroked Laurent’s back for a moment before he said, “When my mother passed, my father drank too much, far too often. I loved him, love him more than the sun and the moon and all the stars in the sky. But if someone asked me honestly as a child if I felt that there was a measure of protection to be found in him during that time, I would have had to say no. But that didn’t lessen my love for him.”

“What changed?”

“Forgiveness, I suppose. Age, maturity, understanding,” Stiles said.

“Will Derek forgive us? Will he forgive us for what we tried to deny? For what we tried to force him to do that day?” Talia asked.

Again, it felt like a question that was too big. Stiles felt like he was only a child and an adult was asking him to answer the questions of the universe.

“I don’t think Derek sees it as something to forgive. He loved you through it, he forgave you over and over, and he will love you until he draws his last breath.”

Talia remained silent for a moment and then asked, “Did you father always know?”

“About my attraction to men?” Stiles said.

Talia nodded.

“I don’t know. I think my mother knew before him. I think she knew before I even knew what it meant. It probably had something to do with me telling her that I would like to hold hands with Sir Jackson but marry Sir Scott when I was four summers past,” Stiles said.

Talia laughed.

Stiles smiled and put his hand on Laurent’s back. He couldn’t remember a life before this sweet weight pressing against him near constantly.

“My father told me that before she died, she told him. She told him that the world was going to be cold and cruel to me because of who I loved and that he couldn’t be. That it would be the gravest of tragedies if he tried to change who I was. That he had to be my soft spot to land when I needed it.”

“Was he?” Talia asked and she sounded like she was choking back tears.

“He was. Him and the others. They protected me from it, from the cruelty of the others as much as they could. I learned to fight out of necessity and dreamed of joining the guards here. I thought that if I could do that, none would dare insult a royal guard. My plan worked, I suppose. I just think that we all got a little more than we bargained for.”

Talia laughed at that and wiped her face, “Yes. I suppose we did.”

*~*

Derek found Stiles and Laurent in their room, John reading in the corner and Erica and Kira playing a heated game of chess in the corner.

“Are you ready for dinner?” Derek asked the room at large.

Erica, Kira, and John nodded absently, but Laurent and Stiles were still in their casual clothes, on the bed. Laurent was on his belly, babbling to Stiles. Stiles was nodding and listening intently as though Laurent were a visiting dignitary, asking for his opinion on a very important matter.

“I understand, but did you stop to consider that maybe your tiger didn’t mean it?” Stiles countered.

Laurent squealed.

“I think the elephant overstepped his boundaries,” Stiles said.

Laurent reached for Stiles’s chin and squeezed.

Stiles pressed his lips together and nodded. “You have a point.”

“Do you two have more important matters to attend to or will you be able to attend dinner?” Derek asked and stood over them.

“We didn’t know if we were to be imprisoned or if we would be let out. In the event that we were not, Laurent and I have important negotiations to settle,” Stiles said and gestured between an elephant, tiger, zebra, and lion scattered over the bed.

“Had you been at dinner with Deucalion, you would have been far more worried about your honor and Laurent’s safety than receiving an invite.” Derek said.

“I have no honor, thanks to you,” Stiles said.

“Your father is right here,” Kira said.

John nodded though he didn’t look up.

“I love you, please come to dinner,” Derek said.

Stiles huffed but sat up. “If the king commands it, who am I to argue?” He asked.

Derek rolled his eyes but took Laurent to get dressed. As soon as Laurent was scooped up into his father’s arms, he began babbling and Derek frowned but he also nodded. “I see what you are saying, however, you must also consider what the zebra needs.”

Laurent cooed and squeezed his father’s nose.

“Yes, I see, but when you rule over a kingdom with so many different needs, you have to think of them all, not just a single region…” Derek said and swept out of the room to Laurent’s room, where his toys and clothes were kept. He slept in Derek and Stiles’s room still. Derek was working up the courage of asking Stiles for a night nanny so that they might have some time to themselves. He wanted to laugh at himself. He was all but king now and he was trying to find a gentle way to encourage Stiles to put his Derek’s own son in a different room at night.

But that was the point. Stiles was as present in Laurent’s life as Derek himself now. Derek would be surprised if Laurent didn’t grow up and refer to Stiles as his father. The others, Derek included, stumbled around how to address how Stiles and Laurent were connected. Derek so wanted to smooth it over, for Stiles to have the honor to call Laurent his son and for that statement to be beyond reproach.

He was almost king, Derek reasoned, he could do as he wished.

In Laurent’s room, Heather was gathering outfits for Derek to pick from. “Your Highness?” She said as Derek dressed Laurent. There was an army of nannies that were waiting to do this. A few waited just behind Derek, but Derek loved this. He loved looking down on his son as he dressed him and changed him and pulled him in close. He wasn’t sure if he could part with these few quiet moments he got.

“Yes, Heather?” Derek said.

“Should you need someone to be in here with Prince Laurent, if you ever want to have him in here in night, or perhaps just a few nights during the week, I would sincerely like to apply to be that person in here with him,” she said breathlessly. Much like everyone else Laurent met, Heather had fallen head over heels in love with the small prince. Talia claimed it was because of Derek’s patient manner that he had learned and Laura’s beauty. None stood a chance, she said. It seemed like she was right.

Derek raised an eyebrow as Heather continued.

“I know you and His Highness would eventually like to have your rooms to yourself, if you can get your friends out of there, and if ever that position to be a nanny, as it were, could be open, I would sincerely like to be able to apply to that position. I would be happy to train with your guards and Lady Allison has shown me how to use a crossbow,” Heather went on.

Derek turned to see Allison in the doorway. She didn’t even bother to look guilty.

“I will take it under advisement and speak to Stiles about it,” Derek said and paused. “Since when has Stiles been addressed with a title?”

“The Queen Mother corrected Sir Jackson this afternoon and we have all taken her direction, Your Highness. If you would wish for us to use a different title-”

“No, no. That’s fine,” Derek said. His voice sounded faint and high even to him and his hands stilled on the buttons on Laurent’s small jacket. It was a miniature of the one that Derek wore. Heather stepped up and Derek stepped away and Allison took a step closer when she saw how pale Derek had become.

“Did she really?” Derek asked.

“Yes,” Allison said and glanced around, trying to understand why Derek was acting so strangely. Of course she had missed out on the years previous and had only ever seen Derek and Stiles together. It was a natural progression for Stiles to get the title of His Highness. She was one of the few that waited matter of factly for Derek and Stiles to announce their engagement while Boyd, Erica, and Isaac never mentioned it for fear of incurring someone’s wrath, though they were not sure who.

“Should I propose?” Derek asked.

“Have you… not?” Allison asked. She looked around for guidance but there was none. Boyd and Isaac were downstairs, getting Cora and Laura’s guards together.

Derek leaned against the wall and he felt the room tilt. He slid down to the ground. Allison was truly alarmed now and even Heather looked worried as she fit Laurent’s small shoes on his chubby, socked feet.

Allison sat down next to Derek.

“Two years ago, this would not have been possible. Now he sleeps in my bed and cares for my child and negotiates with statesmen and tells me he loves me and never asks for more,” Derek whispered.

Allison was a stranger in comparison to the others but there was a measure of comfort in that.

“In all my life, I have never seen a person love as Stiles loves you. Or as you do him. Perhaps you should consider proposing,” Allison whispered back.

“I will consider it, yes.”

“What are you doing down there?” Stiles asked as he came into Laurent’s room. He was dressed now, a dark purple jacket and black pants and Derek felt his heart skip a beat. Heather handed the baby over and Stiles pulled Derek to his feet and kissed his nose. “We have people to greet and your butt will be dirty.”

“It’s fine,” Erica reported.

“Thank you Erica,” Stiles said and smiled broadly at Derek. “Hurry up. If we are late to dinner, we might not get to sit next to each other.”

“Oh, god, no. Not again,” Derek said and tightened his hold on Stiles.

Stiles laughed and they led their retinue downstairs and into the great hall where the others waited for them. Derek greeted Satomi warmly and she stroked Laurent’s cheek and kissed Stiles.

Everyone, including Joseph and Talia stayed standing until both Derek and Stiles were seated. Laurent stayed in Stiles’s arms as the food was passed around and the conversation began in earnest.

Derek noticed that Stiles was not eating, as he was feeding Laurent bits of mashed vegetables and then a bottle. Derek took it upon himself to feed Stiles bits of his own food as Laurent ate and Stiles gave him a grateful smile.

“So when should I expect the announcement?” Satomi asked and smiled benignly at Derek and Stiles.

“Of?” Derek asked, feigning ignorance as he fed Stiles a bit of meat.

“The royal wedding, of course.”

Isaac choked.

“Derek hasn’t proposed,” Stiles said.

Satomi raised an eyebrow.

“I plan to, of course,” Derek said. “But I get so caught up. I want to give Stiles the world. I want there to be magic and fireworks and our entire families and everything to be perfect. Then I become overwhelmed.”

“And Derek is also single-handedly running the country and his coronation is being planned. There is no rush. I have no plans of going anywhere. I love him more dearly than I thought I could love anyone. And then he went and gave me this,” Stiles said and sighed at Laurent who was sleeping soundly in his arms. “He gave me love upon love.”

From the opposite side of the table, Lydia sniffed while Jackson handed her a handkerchief.

“Stiles exaggerates. I do not run this country alone. He stays up nights and studies the negotiations. He smooths over offended councilmen. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to do this. Without him, I would be lost,” Derek said.

Boyd was sniffling now and Erica handed him a handkerchief.

“It seems to me that the vows have already been made. All that is required of you is a bit more paperwork,” Satomi said and winked at Stiles.

“I believe you are right,” Stiles said and looked to Derek.

Derek smiled back and kissed the corner of Stiles’s mouth.

“I believe that you can expect the invitation soon,” Talia said and rolled her eyes at her son and grandson and soon to be son-in-law. “Not that it changes anything.”

Derek looked over at his mother and father and realized that they finally understood. It had only taken a sacrifice on Laura’s part and time away from his parents for them to finally see their son as he had always been. Not less or different or even better. They gained a clarity and it had softened them and their hearts.

Love upon love, as Stiles said.

Derek couldn’t imagine a better life than his.


End file.
